Little Pink Book
by HardRiRi
Summary: Michiru makes an interesting discovery when her partner is away; her little pink book. She finds names, dates, and intimate details of her previous relationships. Her curiosity gets the better of her and Michiru ends up investigating these people...
1. Chapter 1: Little Pink Book

This is my first Haruka/Michiru fanfic. I hope you all enjoy! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

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**Chapter 1: Little Pink Book**

Michiru sat on the edge of the bed as she watched her lover pack her things up in the black suitcase. She was leaving today… it broke her heart every time. Her saddened turquoise eyes closed shut; she couldn't watch Haruka go again.

"I'll be back before you know it," she grinned from across the room, sensing that her partner was distraught again.

"What if you get hurt?"

"Mich…"

"What if you get in a car accident?"

"Michi…"

"Why can't I come?!"

"Because you have your own life to lead!" she snapped.

Haruka had grown tired of doing this roundabout argument every single time she left for a race. It was her girlfriend's way of showing she cared though … she knew that. The two of them had been working nonstop for months now. Michiru had turned into a jet setting, famous violinist where as Haruka had become an over night sensation on the race track. Their lives were complicated, but some how they found a way to make it work. However saying goodbye was never easy…

"I'm sorry I yelled like that," Haruka murmured as she knelt down in front her suddenly sobbing partner. "I don't like this any more than you do. It'll be over once I get to that big race. You'll see. We'll be settled down for a while, we can take a long vacation together, and we can finally get that house you always wanted by the ocean."

"The one with the sand that mixes with the front lawn?" Michiru sniffed as she brushed away the tears.

"Yeah. That one."

She smiled a little bit which was enough for Haruka to get back to packing for her flight she had later that day. Before she became all emotional again, Michiru decided to leave the bedroom and waltzed out into garden where their little fountain was glittering and calling to the birds around the neighborhood. Watching that thing always made her more relaxed some how. She sat down on the swinging, cushioned chair and squinted her puffy eyes as a bright blue bird swung down to perch on the edge. They had a huge garden in the back with a vegetable patch, a rose bush, an orange and lemon tree, and a nice black bottom pool in the center that was sparkling in the sunlight. Her mind often drifted off into far away places for hours and hours at a time in this place. This was her refuge.

"Hey!"

She snapped out of her trance and looked over at the sliding glass door where Haruka was standing. She had finished packing, much to Michiru's dismay. The two of them walked back inside and stopped at the opened front door. A car was waiting to take the speed demon away to an airplane which would then escort her to Europe. It was bad enough that she had to leave, but she also had to be so far from their home in Los Angeles.

"You'll call me the moment you get off the plane?" Michiru asked as she pressed her hands against her lover's slender chest; it was built more like a man's than a woman's.

"Yes, dear, I will," she replied.

"And don't drink on the plane. It makes you sick."

"I know."

"And try not to go straight for fast food when you get off. Maybe find a nice restaurant."

"Okay."

"And—"

"Will you calm down?" she chuckled, tilting Michiru's chin upwards. "Geez. Maybe it would be easier to just have you come along with me."

"No. I have three concerts and two lessons to give at the university in the next two weeks."

"Well, I'll do everything you ask and then some," Haruka murmured as she leaned over and pressed her lips against hers. She tangled her fingers through the soft and silky turquoise hair. When she pulled back, she rubbed her knuckle along Michiru's jaw line. A loud car honking interrupted their slow, intimate moment and the two parted with a resisting air. They held onto each other's hands tightly and they broke off. Michiru watched the love of her life amble over to the SUV and climb inside. She rolled the window down and blew a kiss to her before peeling off down the road.

She turned around and shut the door, her house sounding eerily silent. What was she supposed to do now? When she was upset or depressed like this she would go swimming in their large pool, but she didn't feel as though she had enough energy. Instead, she went into their bedroom, closed the curtains to block the sunlight out and then flopped onto their bed. She turned the television on and let the mindless words float in and out of her ear. She finally felt the workings of sleep take over her body and she drifted into a pleasant slumber.

A ring tone of Mozart's Symphony No 40 In G Minor wafted through the air, waking up the sleeping beauty. She pulled her cell phone off of her nightstand and plunked it onto her ear as she answered groggily, "Hello?"

"Where are you?" Setsuna asked on the other line. "I thought we were meeting at Crystal Vision tonight for dinner."

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed as she sat up quickly, feeling dizzy at her sudden movement. "I'm so sorry. I fell asleep and totally forgot. I'll be there in half an hour!"

"See you then."

The two hung up and Michiru went rushing around the bedroom, trying to make herself look better than she had. She splashed some cold water on her face for a quick, impromptu face washing. She patted her skin dry, slapped some concealer under her eyes in order to hide the deep circles and then pinned her hair back to make it look a bit done up. She painted her eyes with a little bit of shimmer, some eyeliner, and mascara and then plopped some blush on to the apples of her cheeks. Growling at her own tardiness, she ran into the closet and stripped out of her wrinkled clothing and slipped into a cream colored silk blouse. She zipped up a high waisted black skirt clinging to her body and then opened up one of her drawers. She searched fervently for a pair of earrings that she loved to wear, but couldn't seem to find them in any of her jewelry compartments. After a few minutes of searching, Michiru stopped trying to look for them and slipped into her high heels. She stumbled out of her closet, making it over to her nightstand in hopes to find her earrings in there.

When she didn't discover them anywhere in her possession, she decided to go looking into Haruka's nightstand. Instead of unearthing a pair of glittering gold and emerald dangling pieces of jewelry, she found a mini, pink book. She knitted her brow in curiosity and picked it up, examining the leather cover. Pink was _not_ Haruka's color, but apparently it was so when she kept a mini-diary. Well, at least that's what she thought it was. Michiru turned it over to find that on the front in gold lettering, it said, "Addresses, Numbers, n' Notes". Her partner was awfully old fashioned when it came to technology so she wasn't surprised when she saw this. What she was really intrigued by though is the fact that it was this color. Her curiosity was starting to get the better of her and she opened it up to the first page. The name there was Anderson, Mike. There was an address, a phone number, the location where they met, and then little notes beside it reading, "Charming. Pretty boy. Nice nails. Excellent smile. Wonderful kiss. Take home hook-up."

Her heart leapt up into her throat and she dropped the little book on the floor like it was a hot potato. She couldn't believe it. Was Haruka cheating on her? No. That couldn't have been it. Michiru bent down and picked it up again, examining what it said on the tiny pages. There were dates next to the notes. This was probably when she was had met the person or when she "hooked-up" with them. She needed a second opinion on this immediately discovery. She took the tiny booklet and dropped it into her large leather and gold studded purse before leaving her house to go and meet up with Setsuna.

* * *

"What the hell is this?" she asked as she tossed the pink notebook across the table at her tall, tan friend.

The two were sitting at a dimly lit, crowded restaurant, drinking glasses of wine while waiting for their food to come along. Setsuna reached out to grab the book with her well manicured hand and started to flip through it while Michiru crossed her arms over her chest. She felt uncomfortable showing this to her best friend, but she was so confused as to what she saw.

"This is a little black book," Setsuna grinned, her eyes darting back and forth from the pages to Michiru. "Or in this case, it's a little _pink_ book."

"What is that? I don't get it."

"Here's the gist of it; you meet someone, you write their name, number, address, and then a status of what you are. I'm sure you're in here somewhere titled as 'long-term'. She went into detail though and even put dates of when she went out them, for how long and when she ended it. It's like her dating history in a book. I don't understand why she still has it since she's been with you for so long, but it's certainly an intriguing read, I'm sure."

"Well, we haven't been together _that_ long," Michiru said, snatching the book out of Setsuna's hands.

"Two years is quite a while."

"Then why do I feel so uncomfortable with this?!"

"I don't know," she replied as she sipped her white wine. "If I was in your shoes, I would investigate."

"What?"

"You know, go and see where these people are at. Find out what Haruka was like when she was dating them!" she beamed. "It's especially interesting that she dated men … never would have guessed."

"Yeah that surprised me too," Michiru murmured as their large salads were served to them.

As they ate their food, she wondered if she should investigate like Setsuna suggested. Would it be breaching her lover's trust or would it just turn into a harmless, interesting game of discovering her past. The two of them had never really discussed their previous relationships for the very sole reason of getting jealous. But would her imagination be worse than what she would find out from these exes in her life? There was only one way to find out…

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**Please review! Lemme know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2: Ex 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

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**Chapter 2: Ex #1**

Michiru sat in the tub, her nose just above the water as she stared at the pink little booklet sitting on the counter. It was mocking her. It had been practically screaming at her all night to look through it. She had only opened up to that one fateful page and was too scared to go any further. She wasn't surprised necessarily that Haruka had dated men in the past, it was just shocking to her that she never talked about it with Michiru. She always assumed her partner had been with women exclusively during all of her relationship life. Was she bisexual? If so, did that mean her eyes wandered more than just toward women when they walked down the street? It was bad enough to try and compete with women, but men now too? The thought made her blow angry air bubbles in the clear water.

She got out of the tub, the draining loud sound filling the room quite nicely. As she dried herself off, she kept her turquoise eyes glued to the address book. Another peek wouldn't hurt, right? Right. Michiru made sure to dry herself off complete, not leaving a drop of water on her skin or in her hair before she touched it; she didn't want any evidence that her hands had been on this vile thing. Once she was sure that she was as dry as a desert, she grabbed the pink pamphlet off the counter and sat down using the closed toilet as her seat. She started to flip through the names, not recognizing any of them.

"Finnegan, Lacey," she mumbled to herself. "Quite the Irish lass. Freckles everywhere. Piercing green eyes. High pitched laugh kind of annoying. Dating."

The date wasn't recent. In fact she wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the first few ones that she had put in there. Moving on, she moved down to the letter K and looked up her last name, Kaioh. There she found it. It was scribbled in a different colored pen other than black. She didn't know if that signified something or not, but she was too busy reading what was written about her.

"Kaioh, Michiru. Captivating. Beautiful on the inside and out. Musically gifted. Can't tear myself away. Seriously dating. Living together. Never want to let go."

There was the date from when they first met, the date of when they first made love, and when they moved in together. A smile unwillingly tugged at her lips as she read over and over again what her girlfriend had written in bright red ink. She moved on through the pages and realized that there were a few more pieces of information that were written in red. She assumed that red meant she had been highly interested or it was a long term commitment. If she was going to continue on in this relationship with Haruka, she had to see what she was like with her past lovers. Was there a pattern? Did she ever cheat? Had she ever met other people's parents?

The first name that was written in red was that Anderson, Mike guy that she had first stumbled upon when she discovered this book. She hadn't noticed the ink or the fact that after it said "Take home hook-up" it continued on: "I'll do mornings with him any day. Turning serious. Seriously heated. Fallen hard."

"This is going to be harder than I expected…" Michiru whispered as she felt her stomach churn with trepidation.

That night, she stayed up in bed with a notebook and started to outline the different serious relationships Haruka had been in over the last few years and drew it out in a timeline. She even dotted in the most recent hook-ups and flings she had supposedly been apart of. When she finally finished, she got onto her lap top and typed in the first name, "Jenkins, Ida", into a search database. She discovered that this woman was a well known swimsuit model.

"Oh _great_. Look at that! _Of course_ Haruka would date a fucking swimsuit model," Michiru murmured sarcastically.

She picked up her cell phone and dialed a number quickly. When the other picked up finally she said into it, "Ami? Hi, it's Michiru. Did I wake – I didn't? Oh good. Oooh, yeah midterms are quite the 'bummer'…. Uh-huh …. Yeah. Hey listen can I ask you to do me a favor? I have a few names here and I need their schedules…. I-I'm trying to get together a party. I – no, no! Haruka doesn't know about it…. A surprise party? Yeah! Well, I mean that is if I can get into contact with all of these people…. Uh-huh … right. Okay. You want me to e-mail you the names? Awesome. Thanks Ami! You're such a doll! Talk to you later! Bu-bye!" When she hung up, she stared at her phone for a minute, "That was too easy."

She e-mailed the names of the list she had created and then promptly went to bed. It was a restless night for her though. Getting to sleep on the first night Haruka left for work was always difficult, but this time she thought it was because she had a nagging voice in the back of her head saying she was betraying her girlfriend.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, she immediately grabbed her computer and looked at her e-mail account. There, in the middle of all her news updates, was a message from Ami titled, "Schedules as requested." She clicked it open, her heart racing like a jackhammer. Michiru certainly felt like she didn't need coffee this morning; her nerves were giving her more than enough energy for the day.

Ami typed in the message, "Here are the schedules you ask for. I didn't know how long you wanted it so I did my best and attained about a month's worth for each person. It wasn't easy, I'll have you know, but the challenge was exciting! Thank you for giving me a break from my advanced physics midterm. I was starting to get a headache before you called me. Haha. Anyways, I hope this suites you. Let me know if I can help with the surprise party! Xoxo, Ami."

She felt a twinge of guilt for deceiving her friend, but she wasn't about to admit that she was going behind her girlfriend's back in order to see how she was in previous relationships. Yeah, that would have gone over _real_ well with Ami. Michiru tried to shake off the shame and read the e-mail in front of her on her glowing screen. The first person that was up on her list: the damn swimsuit model.

"Seriously?!" she exclaimed.

Michiru looked over the itinerary and found that she was going to be at a modeling agency. So how exactly was she going to play this? It's not like she wasn't well known around the world. Sometimes being famous really hindered your ability to become a secret detective. She picked up her phone and called her agent.

"Hey Kelly. I have a question. Can you set up an appointment for me with Gossip Models? I was thinking of maybe trying to go a pop route in order to get more fans…. Uh-huh…. And in order to do that, modeling for certain industries, companies, and magazines will help tremendously…. Right, right. So you're on board? …. Ah, dollar signs. Of course! Okay well – thank you." She paused for a moment as she looked up what time little Ms. Suntan was going to be at the agency. "Do you think we can get it for around two this afternoon? Cool. Thanks. Yeah just text me. Alright. Bye!"

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"I can't believe I'm doing this," she whispered as she sashayed into the agency.

There were a bunch of women already waiting in the front room with thick binders in their hands. Michiru felt like she was in a different universe among these young looking, gussied up, tall models. Trying to ignore how uncomfortable she felt, she sauntered on up to the receptionist and announced that she was there for a two o'clock appointment. The woman nodded and told her to be seated with the rest of the girls. She turned and looked around the room. In the corner was the woman who had dated her girlfriend for a considerable amount of time. This Ida character wasn't hard to spot; she had legs for days, platinum blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a tan that screamed cancer. Michiru recognized her from the quick internet search she did before arriving. The photos that popped up were … well … let's just say it left little to the imagination. Feeling even more self-conscious about her body as the images bounced through her head, she took a deep breath and sat next to Ida. The woman glanced up for a moment before returning her icy blue orbs back to the terrible magazine she was scanning. Michiru thumbed through the glossy covers on the table and found the one she wanted specifically; a race car magazine with Haruka fanned over her car in heels, a pair of short shorts and man's button down shirt hardly covering her breasts. Ida's eyes darted over to the image and she narrowed her gaze.

"I used to date that wench," she growled lowly.

Michiru's eyebrows shot up and she looked around to see if she was talking her. When she was certain that she was, she turned her attention back to the woman, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I dated her…. That woman on the cover," she answered, poking Haruka's face with her pink nail.

"O-oh?" she stammered. She glanced at the front of the magazine as she said, "It doesn't sound like from your tone that it ended well."

"Ugh."

Michiru bit her lip and wondered what to do. The woman wouldn't speak if she gave her attention; she received enough of that on a daily basis. So she decided to turn her concentration back toward the stapled pages that sat in her lap. It didn't take long for the silver-tongued woman to snatch the bait.

"She and I … we were so in love. We met by chance at a club."

'_Doubtful_,' Michiru thought to herself. '_Haruka stalks her pray before pouncing_.'

"She was persistent. We had a lot in common. We liked the beach, we liked dogs, we never wanted little brats of our own."

'_Haruka likes the beach because women don't wear much clothing then. She likes dogs because it attracts said women. And little children make the whole situation messier_.'

"We were almost going to move in together, but then she saw me flirting with another man…"

"Oh! You're bisexual?"

"No. I've only ever been with Haruka."

"Interesting…"

"Yes. Well, she got upset with me. It was so stupid. I had to block her from my instant messaging, from my website, and from my cell phone."

'_Oh dear lord_,' Michiru thought, trying to hold back the urge to chuckle at this woman whose ego was obviously cutting off the air supply to her brain. '_Haruka as a crazed, jealous, stalking girlfriend? And to a woman who never dated women before or since then? Oh please…_'

Ida luckily didn't notice Michiru rolling her eyes slightly. She was too busy chomping down onto a piece of bright pink gum. The fake blonde sighed and continued on with her victimized speech, "I really thought she was going to come after me when we broke up. It was scary. The tabloids were all over it. It was ridiculous."

"Sounds awful," she replied, doing her best to feign concern.

"It was. I hope you never go through that," she said, smacking her gum loudly like a cow.

The two returned to their respective magazines after the rather ludicrous discussion. As Michiru read over the article about her partner, she found that it was all, of course, about her racing. She never really got to discuss the races that her lover was renowned for, so reading about it made her feel like she was sneaking a peak into a secret life.

"Michi?"

She looked up from her moment of "I'm-reading-someone's-illicit-diary" and found a familiar sight; Mina Aino. The slender, natural blonde haired, blue eyed woman stood in the waiting room with a hand on her hip and an expression of surprise creasing her nearly perfect features. Michiru stood up and greeted her friend with an embrace. She sat back down as Mina pulled a chair up from against the opposing wall.

"What are you doing here?" she asked the violinist.

"I thought it would be best to get myself into the modeling industry in order to acquire some more fans," she smiled.

Mina pointed to the cover that Haruka's curvy figure was sprawled across, "Ah, you're trying to go this route, eh?"

"Sort of."

"How is she?"

"She's attending a race in Europe right now."

"You guys are still living together?"

"Yeah we are."

Ida's jaw dropped at the discovery of this information. She stared at the woman next to her with a shocked look embedded in her eyes as Michiru was called into the back room by a short, flamboyant yet masculine looking man. She looked over her shoulder and waved to her friend and the ex she had met along the way. Her identity had been unveiled and it was all worth it to see that this woman's ego had just been popped like a helium balloon. Michiru shook hands with the head of the modeling agency and walked on into her consultation.

"So, what can we do for you here?" the tanned man asked as he sat down across from her at a titanium and glass desk.

"Well, you've seen what my girlfriend has done. She's all over sports magazines, she's using her sex appeal to acquire more fans, money, and overall better endorsement deals and sponsors. I would like to do the same. I want to open up the world to classical music."

"Even if it means sitting in lingerie for Victoria's Secret?"

"I'll do it. If I can do it in the bedroom—"

"Don't complete that statement, please. We'll have a lawsuit on our hands if you do."

Michiru chuckled at the man with the rather squeaky voice, but thick, gold encrusted fingers. He was amusing and charming. She was glad she could kill two birds with one stone in this situation.

"Well, why don't we do some test shots first? What's your schedule like?"

She pulled out her digital calendar aka her cell phone, and flipped through the flat screen pages to see what she had coming up in the next few weeks, "I have a concert on Friday and Saturday night, a lesson on Monday and another concert next Thursday evening."

"Wanna schedule for … Friday afternoon? We'll make it early, one o'clock?"

"Sounds good."

"Great. I'll set you up with photographer Michael Anderson." She couldn't hide the sudden surprise that washed upon her features like a crashing wave. The agent noticed and he asked curiously, "Is something wrong?"

"N-no. I've just heard of him before."

"As you should. He photographed your lovely girlfriend multiple times," he preached. "Lemme tell ya sister, whatever they did in the bedroom, it transferred to camera quite well, because—"

"Please don't finish that sentence," she said breathlessly. "We might have lawsuit on our hands, if you do."

The man chortled at the irony and reached over to shake her hand, "Well it was pleasure meeting you Michiru. I look forward to seeing your film. Who knows, maybe you'll turn me on to classical music."

As she got up to head for the door, she turned around and replied, "I can only dream."

She walked out of the office as quickly as she could, waving goodbye to Mina as she did. She gave an excuse to her that she had to run off to practice or some nonsense and whisked off to the smoggy outside world. When she got into her car, she took a deep breath and tried to think about everything she had learned just from that one meeting with Ida. Was it true? Was Haruka a jealous, stalking girlfriend? Had Michiru been swayed and seduced by her? Maybe she would find out more incriminating or counteractive details in her next meeting with Michael that Friday.

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**Please review! ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3: Ex 2

The reviews I've been receiving from people has been overwhelming! I'm really happy with all of them! Thank you so much! You guys keep me writing! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

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**Chapter 3: Ex #2**

Michiru drove with the top down through the surprisingly clear freeway. Her photo shoot was that day and she knew that she had to be there at least a half an hour early which meant in LA time that she had to leave and hour or so earlier. At this point she would have to find something to do with her spare hours before the meeting.

"Ugh, spoke too soon," she murmured as she came to a standstill with cars in front of her backed up.

A half an hour later, she made it to the studio and was paused right before exiting the car by her phone ringing. She looked at the screen and saw Haruka's face beaming back at her. She hesitated; should she answer and lie about what she was doing that day or ignore it? As she electrically moved the top back onto her sports car, she opted for ignoring the call for now. She'd call her back and give some excuse about missing it. She slipped the phone into her purse and locked her car before strutting into the building. The large, wide open space exposed a session already in the process and she watched as the model in front of her moved around ever so slightly with a large fan and even larger light in her face. She kept adjusting her body, her face, changing the look of her eyes, and even contorted her legs to make them seem longer. This was an amazing development… how was Michiru supposed to mimic this?

There were a few more shots taken and then the model, who was only adorned with gold leaf flakes over her naked body sitting in a chair, got up and tiptoed off the set. The photographer turned around and Michiru was surprised at what she found; a baby faced, blue eyed, blonde haired young man who seemed to have taken his facial features from a woman. Just give this guy long hair and she would have mistaken him for a gorgeous young lady. No wonder Haruka was attracted to him. He flashed her a pearly smile and took a few long strides toward her, extending a hand out.

"You must be the effervescent Michiru!" he said in a sort of squeaky voice.

"And you must be Michael Anderson," she replied with a weak grin.

"You pinned me good!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. He draped an arm over her shoulders and dragged her to where an array of photos were spread across a table, showcasing his work. In the center was the picture of Haruka. It made her blush. "So, tell me dear, what sort of a – oh! I see you've discovered the picture of your girlfriend! You like?"

She nodded and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she asked, "You did an amazing job."

"Please, it was all her!" he smiled. "She was such a great muse. We had an amazing time together."

"A muse?" Michiru asked curiously.

"Yeah. You wanna see the other pictures I took of her?"

"There's more?"

"Are there ever!"

He led the way to the back where his office was and gestured for her to sit down in the black leather chair as he walked across the large room to one of the towering bookshelves filled with black binders with names scrawled across in silver sharpie. He pulled out one that had Haruka's name and handed it to Michiru. She flipped it open, her inner detective eating away at her modesty. Her eyes widened a little as she passed through one photo after the next. There was a classic feminine photo of Haruka that she paused at abruptly. Her girlfriend was dressed in a flowing white dress that looked almost like bridal picture. She grazed a finger over the glossy covering and felt that she had stopped breathing for a moment.

"Isn't that one gorgeous?" he asked quietly. "I took that one for her engagement party."

She tried to hold the surprised look off of her face; when was Haruka engaged?! Why hadn't she known about it? Who the hell was she dating? Michiru shook her head and looked back up at Michael, "Who was she engaged to again? I can't remember their name."

"Zoë Marlstone," he answered. "That woman was such a bitch. Broke your girlie's heart in two. I was surprised when I heard about you guys getting together. I thought she wasn't ever going to date women like you again."

"Women like me?" she asked, narrowing her gaze.

"You know, the classy, stuck up, all-knowing women."

"You clearly don't know me very well Michael," she said curtly as she closed the binder and handed it back to him. "But I don't think it will cloud your ability to take a good photo of me."

He grinned and snapped his fingers, "You got sass girl! More sass than I think any of your publicists would like to admit."

"It hinders my 'classy, stuck up, all-knowing' image," she smirked.

Michael stepped back and studied her for a moment before asking, "How do you feel about water, darling?"

"It's my second home," she said with ease.

"Good. We'll do a water shoot."

"Where?"

"We can find a pool somewhere here in L.A. that's available for us to use."

"On such short notice?"

"Honey, I have friends in high places."

* * *

He wasn't kidding. Within an hour, Michael had only made two phone calls, sent out three text messages and suddenly everyone was gathered up in two big SUVs heading to a mansion up in the surprisingly green hills of Los Angeles. He had his whole crew set up in the backyard where Michiru was waiting patiently in a chair. She was getting her make-up done underneath a small white tent while wearing a fluffy terrycloth robe. The woman painting her face with multiple products commented on how soft her skin was and how thick her lashes were. She thanked the woman and then was told to not speak or smile while lipstick was being applied.

When she was done with make-up, Michael approached her with a shimmering gold plated violin. She knitted her brow in confusion as she examined it, "Is this for real?"

"It's a piece of artwork. Deal with it," he said. "Okay, get in the pool and pretend you're playing the violin. I want to take step by step photos."

Michiru faltered for a moment as she tapped the violin with the matching bow. It made her uncomfortable doing this and not just because she was wearing a designer bikini that made her feel more exposed than being naked did, but also because she still hadn't found out anything about Michael and Haruka's relationship. The photographer noticed the disgruntled expression and shifted his weight to his other foot.

"What's the matter?" he asked, placing a hand on his jutting hip. "Is the swimsuit too revealing? Honey, you have the best tits and ass this side of L.A.! And I don't say that to just anyone."

"It's not the swimsuit."

"Then what is it?"

"You," she answered bluntly with a shrug.

He pulled up a chair in front of her and shooed everyone out of the tent, "Explain to me, my chickadee."

"I don't get you," Michiru announced softly as she cocked her head to the left. "How the hell did _you_ date Haruka?"

"Oooh! That's what this is about," he smiled.

"Are you gay?" she asked. "Because you have that flair about you."

"Gay? Yes. Straight? Yes. Bisexual? Sure. A love to all? Fuck yes, exclamation point," he stated. Michael clasped a hand over hers and said genuinely, "When Haruka and I dated, it was a very confusing and tumultuous time for us both. She was so masculine. I was very feminine."

"You both still are," Michiru chuckled.

"Yes, but we've found out where we belong on the spectrum. I'm all over the place and she's comfortable on the pink side."

'_Supposedly_,' she thought to herself.

"So lets get these done, eh sweet lips?"

She nodded and stood up to remove her robe, exposing her scantily clad black swimsuit. Michiru held tightly onto the golden violin and stood at the edge of the pool, right above the shallow steps. Michael checked for lighting, took a test shot, and then cued the classical music from one of her favorite composers. She held the violin up to her chin and pretended to play, her eyes closed with ecstasy as the music swam in and out of her ears. She opened up her turquoise orbs when Michael asked her to and he snapped an amazing photo of her stepping into the light blue colored water with her matching eyes looking like she had just seen the love of her life.

"Holy shit! That is going to be an ad for a campaign, I can see it now!" he screamed as they continued to shoot.

* * *

The rest of the day went off fabulously and Michiru had grown to adore Michael like he was a long lost flamboyant brother. He told her that the photos were going to make her agents millions and make them both stars. She simply giggled at him and left the mansion with the golden violin in hand; he said it was a gift for being such a great sport and getting all the way in the pool.

When she got into her car with her hair still slightly damp from the shoot, she dug through her purse and pulled out her phone. Haruka had left her message.

"Hey baby," she said, the wind blowing into the earpiece for a quick second. "I miss you. I was driving the track today on a practice run and popped in your CD you gave me a while ago. It made me beat my previous time, believe it or not. I guess I thought that if I went faster, time would follow suit and I would be back in your arms. Anyways, just wanted to tell you how much I love you and miss you. Let's video-chat soon. I need to see a beautiful woman in front of me; these guys are driving me crazy. Well, gotta go Michi. Love you!"

She hung up the phone and looked in the rearview mirror to see that she had tears falling down her cheeks undetected. She wiped them away with a vigorous hand and then drove out of the drive way, speeding off to get home. Michiru wondered if this is what it felt like to be Haruka on the race track, trying to get some where as fast as possible, but never ending up in the place you want to.

* * *

**Please review! ^_^ I love hearing from you guys!!**


	4. Chapter 4: Ex 3

Great reviews you guys! They keep me writing! I get really excited to see what you all have to say about my chapters so keep them rolling on in! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

* * *

**Chapter 4: Ex #3**

Michiru sat down at her desk and looked at the computer screen in front of her. She had presented a lecture to a group of students earlier that morning and now had the day to herself. All she could really do was sit around, drink tea, and think about Haruka's life before they got together. She was slowly beginning to understand her … a little … maybe. She could at least understand why she dated Michael. Hell, after her photo shoot even _she_ wanted to date him! The man was hilarious, flamboyant, and … he had e-mailed her?! She clicked open the message and found it read as follows, "Hey gorgy-gorge! How is the most beautiful musician in the world doing?! Probably doing fabulous playing with your gold violin. Anyways, I thought I'd mail you your photos. I already sent them to the modeling company, your agents, and your manager. I still have yet to get a response from them, but I suspect you'll receive a shout out before I do. Please tell me you love them, hate them, want to rip them to shreds, etc. My eyes were bursting out from your fierceness! Kiss, kiss! Mikey Anderson."

She tilted her head and popped open the links. Her jaw dropped at the images. She didn't know that she looked like that! The first picture was an array of multiple back-to-back, step-by-step picture of her walking into the pool with the golden violin in her hand. The next photo was her in a rainbow and black patterned bikini, lying out in the sun beside the edge of the pool, leaning against her elbows, and dipping one leg as well as a few fingers in the light blue liquid. Her eyes were still wide open as she looked at the next image where she was wearing a heart-shaped neckline one piece black swimsuit, she was floating across the top of the water with her hair fanning out around her like a mermaid and her turquoise eyes were piercing under the shade of the tree. The final photograph was of her laying on the diving board in a black see through, flowing cover-up dress with a lavender strapless two piece, biting down on a pair of Chanel sunglasses coyly and with black wooden musical notes floating in the water below. The pictures were "gorgy-gorge" as Michael had said in the e-mail. She couldn't wait to show Haruka.

"Oh shit!" she exclaimed as she jumped out of her chair.

Michiru ran to her phone and punched a few buttons before getting a ringing noise on the other end. She forgot to call back her lover yesterday amidst all of this crazy bru-ha-ha. She smacked her forehead multiple times, scolding herself for being such a bad girlfriend lately … even worse than usual.

"Hello?" Haruka answered.

"Baby!" Michiru sighed with relief as she flopped onto her bed.

"Hi sweetheart."

"Oh my goodness, it is so good to hear your voice!"

"Miss me that much huh?"

"Yes I do!"

"We might have to get you a dog if you're going to miss me like this."

"Haha. I know that's just your way of wanting to get a damn Great Dane."

"I'm telling ya, it would be an excellent watch dog, a great companion and—"

"It would make a mess," Michiru interrupted.

"Honey, if you want to see a mess, you should be here. These men … ugh! They do nothing but drink beer at night, talk about their wives, and then ask me if having sex with you is 'lesbo hot'," Haruka shuddered.

"Well … is it?" she grinned.

"You know it is," her partner answered. "Anyways, what have you been up to lately Michi?"

She cleared her throat and said, "Well I just gave a special seminar this morning at the school—"

"On a Saturday?"

"Yup. You wouldn't believe the turn-out. _I_ sure didn't."

"Did you get like three students?"

"Try three-hundred," Michiru corrected.

"Holy crap!"

"I know. Amazing, right?" she smiled. "And I'm expecting more the next time I go."

"Why's that?"

"I did a photo shoot yesterday."

"Oh did you now?" Haruka asked, her voice dripping with curiosity. "What happened to your stance on not wanting to sexualize classical music?"

"My agent thought otherwise," she answered. It wasn't a complete lie. It also wasn't the complete truth. "I met with an interesting photographer."

"Who?"

"Michael Anderson."

There was coughing on the other line and then Haruka returned, "You're kidding?!"

"No, I'm not. He is such a character!" she laughed. "Said I had the best tits and ass on this side of Los Angeles."

"That sounds like Michael…"

"Yeah, you would know, huh? He said you two dated," she pressed on.

"Oh god yeah," Haruka grunted. "It was such a long time ago. Ugh. I was so … _weird_ back then!"

"How old were you?"

"Can we just say that flannel was in and leave it at that?"

"Yes darling, we can," Michiru giggled. "Was he the only guy you dated?"

"Um, no. I mean I went through this whole confusing time where I thought I liked guys before I realized I liked women … it took a while. You know how it goes."

"No, I don't," she replied.

"Look, there was Michael for a while whom I was just having a fun time with and then there was another guy who literally turned me gay."

"Geez, Haruka, cliché much?"

"I know, I know," she chuckled. "But hey, it led me to you, did it not?"

"This is true."

"So who was—"

"Oh! Wait! Michi! I gotta go. I – yeah alright! Alright! Shut the fuck up Randal! I'm coming!" Haruka shouted. She returned to the phone and said, "I gotta go and talk to some sponsors."

"Go gettem honey!" she cheered on.

"Ha. Yeah. Thanks," she groaned. "Oh hey, when you get the pictures, will you send em to me? I miss your face."

"I got them this morning. I'll send them to you now."

"Great. I love you."

Michiru paused for a moment and whispered, "I love you too."

They clicked off the line with each other and she curled up in a fetal possession. She placed her lips on the phone and wondered what Haruka would have said if she asked her about the fiancé. She was easily open enough about Michael; would she have been the same way with this Zoë girl? Talking about guys was one thing since it was in the past, it was a presumed fluke, but she wondered if her girlfriend would get defensive when talking about other women in her life. And what about this mystery guy who supposedly turned her gay? Michiru wanted to find him and thank him!

She pursed her lips and got off the bed to walk over to the desk. She pulled the tiny pink address book into her grasp from a little drawer and flipped through the pages. She found the name Zoë Marlstone. Next to the red colored name was the description, "She blows my mind. I can't catch her. She's a slippery little girl … pun intended. Moved in. Engaged." There was a thick black sharpie line crossing through the writing. She dragged a finger across the filled in lines; she could feel the heated rage through it. It was a dull wrath, one that had clearly dimmed out of existence over the years.

Michiru looked at her computer and read over the timetable that Ami had dug up for her. Zoë's schedule was filled with clubs, clubs, and more clubs. She was either a regular party-goer or a dj. She typed in the mystery woman's name and up came a bunch of party photos with the girl working the crowd with a headset pressed up against her ear. She was either scratching away at her equipment or she was waving her hands in the air with neon lights blinking behind her. This chick looked a little masculine … much like Haruka. She seemed like a challenge. She had on a fedora in most of the pictures, covering her short lavender-blonde dyed hair. Her lips were pouty and light pink bringing out her sharp blue eyes.

"Damn," Michiru whispered in surprise.

She grabbed her phone and dialed a number quickly, "Hey Mina. How are you? … Great. Oh yeah I had a photo shoot the other day with Michael Anderson. I don't know how you do it. … Uh huh… Yeah…. Patience is quite a big tool that you need to use in that business I'm sure … Listen, I was wondering what you were doing tonight.… Would you like to go out to a club with me? I'm feeling kind of lonely with Haruka gone and I don't want to be by myself tonight in this big house…. Awesome! Yes! Call the others and I'll get a hold of Setsuna and Ami. Yes…. Yes, we'll be in touch. Okay…. Love ya too girl! Bye!"

She closed her phone shut and smiled. She was going to try and find out what this whole engagement thing was with Zoë. Michiru typed it into the search engine and found gossip columns, news blogs, and fans twittering about their relationship. She couldn't believe anything she glanced at online. The only generalized fact she got from the entertainment world was that they were a fast and loose couple, in love one minute, breaking hearts and plates the next. Troublesome was quite the understatement for their relationship. They were betrothed quickly, trying to dispel any rumors about a break up and then after three "blissful" months of engagement, they broke it off with no word as to why except for that ever cordial public relations speech where they always say, "They have split up amicably."

"Yeah, right," Michiru mumbled as she got up from her desk and bounced over to her stereo, blasting some techno music through the speakers. She was going to be around it all night; she might as well get used to it and find the rhythm … get down with the "groove".

"This is going to give me a headache," she said under her breath.

* * *

The girls stood in line, their heels starting to get to them already. Michiru was thankful that they agreed to come with her here. Mina, Ami, Setsuna, Serena, Rei and Lita stood in a bunched group together. Michiru played with the black sequins on her dress as she glanced at Setsuna. The tall, tan woman knew exactly why they were there, but she wasn't saying anything, just staring at her friend with that damn all-knowing gaze.

"So how did you hear about this place?" Rei asked.

Michiru shrugged, "A magazine I think."

"It was on The Buzz," Serena smiled.

"Wow, way to plug your website," Rei snapped.

"The more hits I get, the more money I make and the bigger my company gets," she said.

"Oh look, we're next!" Lita smiled.

The girls walked up to the bouncer, showed him their IDs and got in without a hitch. The music bounced off the walls and vibrated through their bodies as they made their way through the sweaty, neon dressed crowd to the bar. They got their drinks at a snail's pace and then scoured the crowd, looking at some of the idiots who thought they could dance. Michiru's turquoise eyes bounced up to the large speakers and jumping lights where front and center Zoë Marlstone was scratching the beats and mixing up the tunes of the top 40 along with some classics here and there.

"Is that one of em?" Setsuna asked in her ear. She merely nodded. "How do you expect to get her attention?"

"I have my ways," she grinned.

She downed her drink quickly and then started to dance on over to the center of the room. Her friends followed her and surrounded her in a circle, each dancing in their own way. Michiru lifted her hands above her turquoise hair and looked up at the disc jockey, staring her down intensely. The blue eyed woman finally glanced her way and caught her gaze. She winked and then turned around to dance with her friends for a few more songs. Once Michiru knew she was well and sweaty, she told everyone she was going to the bathroom to cool herself off and splash some cold water on her face. She pushed her way through the mass of decked out debutants, sassy socialites, and catty college students. Her lure had been set to hook the dj. Now all she had to do was wait.

She walked into the busy bathroom and shouted, "Everyone out!"

They all paused what they were doing, looked at her, and then went back to gossiping and primping themselves in the mirror. Michiru arched an eyebrow as she walked up to the wall which was plated with a chalkboard to make it seem like a school room or maybe just to have stupid drunk girls write some ridiculous things for entertainment and she ran her nails down it. The throng of ditzy women covered their ears, shrieked, and bolted out of the restroom. Sauntering in passed the rushing girls was Zoë with her iconic grey fedora, a matching vest slopped over a sparkling bra and pair of blue jeans with some classic Chucks.

She clapped as she said, "Bravo."

"There are certain musical notes that people are attracted to and detracted from," Michiru explained.

"You sound like a professor."

"No, I just gave a lecture on the relationship of music this morning," she shrugged. "I'm still feeling all teacher-y."

"And what's your relationship with _this_ music?" Zoë asked as she closed the gap in between them.

Michiru jumped up onto the sink counter and swung her legs back and forth like a schoolgirl, "Funny enough it has to do with you."

"I suspected as much," she said slyly.

"Did you?"

"You're Haruka's new girl."

"You could say that. I've been her 'new girl' for two years now. Longer than you ever were with her."

"Is that jealousy I'm detecting?"

"No. Your ego seems to have mistaken my curious tone for that."

"Ah. You're curious?"

"Oh very much so. I want to know the truth about you two."

"Why don't you just ask Haruka? Surely she'll give you a better answer," Zoë said as she leaned against one of the bathroom stalls.

"She's biased. I'm her lover; she'll want to make herself look the best in front of me," Michiru replied. "You on the other hand have nothing to gain form lying to me. You don't know me, you can't possibly have formed of an opinion of me just yet, and you know full well that even if Ruka and I broke up, you two would never get back together. _Ever_."

"You have a point," she sighed. The woman removed her hat and twirled it around her finger. She stopped for a moment, stared at Michiru and then ran a hand through her light lavender hair before starting her tale. "I met her at a club."

"Naturally."

"And she wasn't immediately … willing. She said I wasn't her type. I was leaning too much to a masculine side I suppose. She had just gotten out of a brutal relationship with some guy … Terrence, Terry something? She said I reminded her too much of men and she was looking for a more feminine kind of girl. But I kept pursuing her. I gave her my number, I got hers from a friend of a friend, I sent her flowers, and I even went to one of her damn races."

"Do they terrify you too?" Michiru asked, her palms squeezing the side of the counter.

"Dear god, yes!" Zoë exclaimed. "Anyways, she finally succumbed to my wants and desires. We fell in love instantly. It was so natural … yet forced all the same. She was protective and eager to please where as I was free flowing, always suspicious too. I never hid my jealousy."

"Neither does Haruka."

"That was the problem. We became so envious of one another. It would escalate into crazy fights, really amazing sex, and some breaking whether it was the bed or a vase against a wall."

"Jesus," she whispered in shock.

"Yeah. So after one of our clashes, she stormed out and didn't come home. I freaked! I felt like I couldn't live without her! She was the air I breathed. I left the next morning to go downtown, got a ring and popped the question to her the moment I saw her walk through that door."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"So what happened?"

"More brawls, more yelling … it just got more intense. We finally decided to end things after she crashed the back her Lamborghini into our front gate. It was a tearful and heartbreaking goodbye, but it needed to happen."

Michiru nodded as she let all of the information filter into her brain. She looked up at Zoë who was now scratching a tear away from her dark-circled eye. She clearly wasn't over Haruka if she was still able to talk about her so candidly and openly.

"Do you still love her?" she asked.

The dj nodded, "Yeah I do. I can't stop thinking about her, talking about her, dreaming about her. I keep thinking that she'll walk through any door of any room I'm in and tell me it was all a big misunderstanding and we should get back together." Michiru simply stared at the pathetic girl who was now crying uncontrollably, but was desperately trying to ignore the streaming lines of salty tears. Her lower lip trembled, "Does uh … does Haruka talk about me?"

"No," she answered honestly. "I never knew about you until Michael showed me a photo of her from that weird engagement thing."

"Oh yeah," she laughed, sniffing a bit. "That party was such a bust. I mean it was fun, but the aftermath of it all … killed me."

She walked over to one of the sinks that was beside Michiru and splashed her face with some cold water. Zoë dabbed her skin with a rough paper towel and stared into the mirror as the violinist hopped down from the counter. She turned around and looked at the woman who was once engaged to her girlfriend. There was nothing to fear really. She was still a child … no wonder Haruka had such a hard time taming her. Michiru could see in her eyes that she was more than likely a drug addict if not an alcoholic which could account for their horrendous fights. The engagement was a lapse in judgment on both sides, that much she was sure of.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Zoë," she smiled genuinely, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you for being so open with me. I really appreciate it."

"Sure. No problem. Like you said, I have nothing to gain from lying to you," she replied as they parted from one another. "She loves you. Otherwise she would have mentioned our relationship to you immediately."

"It all has to come naturally," Michiru stated.

She knew that the moment those words fell out of her mouth, she was right. She had to stop this hunt she was on going through Haruka's ex-files. But her prying monster had been fed and now it was like a raging, wanting more information. She just had to keep digging.… If not for the benefit of finding more out about Haruka's past, then for finding more about _their_ future. Just from talking to Zoë alone, she realized how much Haruka loved her and how much she had grown.

"Well, have a nice life Zoë," she nodded as she exited the bathroom back out onto the dance floor where she wanted to get lost … lost amongst the people and her thoughts.

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**Please review!! ^_^**


	5. Chapter 5: Ex 4

Thank you so much for all of the reviews guys! This current chapter is a bit short, I know, I apologize, but it sets up the next one which will filled with drama … lots of drama. Enjoy! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

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**Chapter 5: Ex #4**

Michiru sipped some tea the next morning as she listened to Bach and flipped through the little pink book, sitting out on the patio. The sun was shining through the smog really well today and she felt like it was going to be a good day to find that guy who turned her girlfriend toward … well, her. She tried to remember what Zoë had said last night about this man. What was his name again?

"_Terrence, Terry something?"_

She looked through the book, page by page and smiled as she read what some of the things her girlfriend had written.

"Bruster, Francine. She's got cute freckles. Vegetarian. Meh."

"Briton, Chanel. Model. No brains. Good lay."

"Fontan, Vivica. Gorgeous. Rich. Married? Done."

"Wilson, Marie. Her voice is like water. Her snore is like a yacht horn."

Then her eyes suddenly fell onto a familiar name, "Granton, Terrence."

"No," she whispered. "No. No. NO!"

Michiru jumped up off of the swinging bench, her tea cup dropping onto the cement floor and splattering into tiny pieces. She started to pace around the pool as she pressed her phone to her ear. She stared at the writing in front of her as she heard the ringing on the other side.

"Hi Setsuna. I need you to come to my place immediately. _Please_! It's urgent!" she exclaimed. "Yes I'm stressed! I need you here, _now_!"

She hung up the phone and walked back over to where she had been sitting. She started to undress quickly, stripping down to her underwear, placed the pink book neatly on top of her clothing and then raced back to the pool where she started to do some laps. This was the only way to get her frustration out.

* * *

She rubbed a towel against her dripping wet hair as she paced the living room in a silk black and gold robe. Setsuna sat on the couch reading the little pink book with her eyebrows up in air. She closed it quickly, tossed it onto the coffee table and started to rummage through her purse. She pulled out a packet of cigarettes and took one of the white sticks out. Michiru gestured for one and her friend gave her what she wanted. The two of them lit the rolled up nicotine tubes.

"What do I do?" the turquoise haired woman asked, her eyes filling with tears quickly. She took a drag of the cigarette, trying to calm her nerves. "What do I _do_?"

"I don't know," Setsuna replied, blowing the smoke out.

Michiru's legs shook as she sat down and looked through the soft textured booklet again. There, next to the name was the description, "Granton, Terrence. Charming. Gorgeous. Musically gifted. Egotistical. Arrogant. Up his own ass. Rapist."

She placed the book on the coffee table, her hand quivering as she did. Her lips were stiff, she couldn't keep still, and now she wanted nothing but to burn that manuscript. Her freehand opened and closed multiple times while her other hand pressed the cigarette in between her lips.

"You know him?" Setsuna asked.

"He's a fellow musician," she answered, her face wet with tears now. "I met him when I was just starting out. He's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. He mentored me for about a year. Then I started to get big and he resented it.

"The student became the teacher."

"Yeah," she replied, her voice shivering. "I haven't spoken to him since I played at the opera house in San Francisco six, seven years ago."

"Haruka never told you that she knew him?"

"No. No she didn't. She never told me _anything_ about _anyone_ she ever dated!" she shrieked.

"Calm down Michi," Setsuna soothed as she took her hand.

The tan woman reached for the ash tray, stabbed her cigarette out and then stole her friend's half smoked white stick. She seized her distraught friend's face into her hands and rubbed her temples. Michiru breathed in and out deeply, trying to quiet the screaming inside her head. She closed her eyes as she inhaled and exhaled and then popped them open quickly as she thought of what to do.

"Okay," she whispered. "Okay. I got it."

She removed Setsuna's hands from her face and stood up, strolling into her bedroom with her friend tailing her. She changed into a grey wrap dress with a skinny red belt and a pair of thick, high brown wooden heels. She blow dried her hair, did her make up quickly and slipped some gold bangles on her wrist.

"What are you doing?" Setsuna asked.

"Come on."

Michiru grabbed a clutch purse, her cell phone and stormed out of the house.

* * *

"And that's all we have for today," the man declared at the podium in a deep, smooth Scottish accent. "Brilliant work folks." His dark brown eyes studied the group as they got up and collected their things, put away their instruments and cleared the orchestra pit. "Thomson, please be on time next rehearsal and Westhark get that broken spring fixed in your flute."

Once the place was emptied Michiru walked down the slanting ramp, her footsteps muffled by the red carpet below her feet. She had a look of distrust, animosity, and deep, simmering rage washed along the shores of her face. In front of her was the man who had broken her girlfriend's soul, not her heart, just her soul. Maybe he was the reason why she wasn't trusting of anyone. She breathed deeply as she stepped up onto the stage where he was cleaning up some fallen papers. Terrence tilted his head up to her and grinned devilishly.

"Hello," he greeted. "What brings you here Ms. Kaioh?"

"Terrence…"

"Oh, on first name basis, are we?"

She narrowed her gaze at him, "I've been doing a little bit of investigating."

He stood up to his feet and towered over her a good foot or so. The fake tanned man walked over to the available piano and started to briskly play a concerto.

"Stop it," she begged in a whisper.

"Why? You love it when Haruka plays this for you," he smirked. "And I suspect that's why you've come here. Otherwise you wouldn't be filled with so much … um … shall we call it wrath? Or maybe fury is a better term. The malicious Michiru … never would have guessed."

"What did you do to her?" she asked.

"Oh dear, it isn't what I did to _her_. It's what she did to _me_!" he corrected as he kept on playing. "She was a contemptible little child. She wouldn't ever listen to me, she was rude when we were out at dinner parties, and she joked about my hair. I'm very sensitive about that."

"You raped her. You _raped_ Haruka!" she shouted.

"Rape is such a terrible word. I merely obtained what was mine. She wouldn't give me the love and affection I so craved for so I had to use force."

"That's _rape_."

"If you don't report it, it's not," Terrence replied slyly, his fingers gliding easily across the keys. "I taught her this piece, you know. I think it's the only thing she took from me willingly."

Michiru rolled her hand up into a fist, pulled back and socked him right in the face. Terrence fell off of the piano bench, tumbling down to the ground as blood dripped from his nose. Setsuna, who had been in the back of the auditorium the whole time came running down the aisle and bounded up to the stage as fast as she could. By the time she got there, Michiru was straddling over Terrence, her hands closed and pummeling him as hard as she could across his leathery skin.

"You asshole!" she screamed above the punching noises. "You _fucking_ asshole!"

"Michiru! Michiru!"

"YOU'RE A RAPIST! YOU RAPED HER! FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!"

Setsuna hollered for Michiru to quiet down as loud as she could as she grabbed onto her arms and pulled her off Terrence. She held back her rambunctious friend who was flailing her limbs, kicking and screaming while angry tears cascaded down her reddened cheeks. She couldn't believe this man. He was a monster. A pure monster! A thief of souls! He scrambled up to his feet and backed away from the crazed woman who was shrieking like a banshee. He held the back of his hand against his dripping nose.

"Psycho bitch!" he roared. Michiru leaned forward as much as Setsuna would allow her to and spit in his face.

"Get out!" Setsuna snapped above the cries coming from Michiru. "Get out of here!"

"My pleasure," he murmured as he wiped the spit off his already bloodied face, scurried off of the stage, and out of the building.

This left Michiru howling curses and phrases that shouldn't be heard by young ears after him. Her words started to get muddled in wails and sobs as she collapsed to the hardwood ground. She sat there with Setsuna keeping her arms wrapped around her. She wanted to murder that man, to harm him as much as she could, but she legally wasn't allowed to do that. She could feel herself being rocked back and forth by her concerned friend as she kept crying uncontrollably. Her body shook and quivered as she tried to catch her breath.

* * *

"What are you going to do now?" Setsuna asked as she handed her a cup of tea and sat down on the couch.

Michiru accepted the tea gratefully and stayed curled up in a fetal position next to Setsuna with a soft white blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She was still distraught from the events of that day and the information she had gathered. Everything was coming to a head. She didn't know what she was supposed to do or if any one choice was correct at this point. The line between right and wrong had blurred considerably.

"I'm going to tell Haruka the truth," she answered.

"You're going to call her?"

"No. I'm going to Ireland to meet with her face to face."

"Does she know?"

"I just decided now," she said bluntly as she sipped her tea.

"I don't know that it's such a—"

"Setsuna, please don't," she barked suddenly. "I … I need to do this. I need to approach her about this in person."

Her friend nodded silently and drank her cup of tea. There was no changing Michiru's mind. She was dead set on this and no one was going to stop her. Not even her best friend.

* * *

**Please review! ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6: Coming Clean

Hey guys! So just because Michiru wants to confess to Haruka does not mean that this story is coming to a close just yet. There's still a lot to unveil. ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

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**Chapter 6: Coming Clean**

Michiru's fingers flipped through the pages of the mini pink book as she sat in the third airplane of that day. She was finally making it to Dublin to see her girlfriend and admit what she had done. It was wrong of her to go behind her back visit all of those people, but the final one, Terrence, had ripped her heart out. She needed to tell Haruka that she knew; it was time. It was interesting to her how many lives she had touched. Michiru breezed through the pieces of paper to her name and wondered if there was going to be a giant black sharpie etched across. She had breeched her trust and now it was time to admit her faults and hope that she could move on from there.

She got off the plane with just her carry on, called for a taxi and was driven to a large castle on a hill with roaring engines coming from down below it. This wasn't the track they were supposed to race, but it was a difficult practice run for them. The racers were all testing certain parts of their vehicles and trying to see if they would qualify for the race in Barcelona.

Shoving the pink book into the large front pocket of her sweatshirt, she stood at the towering stone foyer, shivering a bit. She wasn't used to this foggy, chilling weather at all. A few men in nice polos and jeans walked down a steep wooden staircase. They raised their eyebrows in surprise at the little "gift" that was waiting at the front door. Michiru pushed her hair behind her ear and looked away from them, feeling their eyes trying to imagine her naked.

"Is Haruka here?" she asked as she shifted her weight to her other foot and looked down at the stone ground.

"She's out at the track little lady," one of them, a British racer, said.

Nodding, she walked through the castle to the back exit and found a cement path that spiraled down through a garden and weaved its way to the metal stands and intricate racetrack where cars were zipping by at top speeds. The men tried to catch up to her, but she skipped down the steps quickly and ran toward the stands. She was stopped at a metal chain link fence that surrounded it. Slipping her fingers through it, Michiru looked behind her and saw that the British racer who had titled her "little lady" was jingling a ring full of keys at her. He unlocked the gate and let her breeze on in. She walked down the aisle in between the two large bleachers and sat down in the front row. The men, three of them, sat behind her and watched the race.

"Are you Michiru?" the Italian racer asked.

"Yes," she answered, keeping her eyes glued on the bright red car that was her girlfriend's.

"She talks a lot about you," he grinned.

"That's sweet."

The British man, who looked rather dashing his with his curly golden red locks and green eyes, got up to go and retrieve a headset from one of the maintenance guys on the sidelines. He said something to them and pointed to Michiru. The guy smiled broadly and handed him the headset willingly. He walked back over and gave it to her before sitting down next to her.

"Thank you," she murmured as she took it into her grasp. "What's your name?"

"William," he answered.

"Thank you William."

"You're welcome," he replied. "Now talk to your girlfriend. Press the red button on the right side of the headphones and you can speak into it. It works like a walkie-talkie."

She nodded and shoved it onto her head. Michiru heard some yelling from the other end and couldn't help but smile at the familiar voice.

"Miles! Miles where the fuck are you!? I need some advice please!" Haruka screamed.

She pressed the red button and spoke into the microphone, "I think Miles is unreachable at the moment."

Looking out at the track, she heard a car come to a screeching halt. Haruka said into it, "Michi?"

"Hi honey."

"Hand the man back his headset so I can tell him I'm coming in."

Michiru removed the headphones and gave them to William who walked back over to the guy, Miles. She saw him nod and glance quickly at her before gesturing to everyone on the team that they were going to wrap things up. They dispersed and some of the men and women jogged out to the car that pulled into a side lot where they usually did repairs. Haruka jumped out of the car, slipped off her helmet and spun around to catch the sight of her lover. She screamed with joy and waved to her wildly before handing off her helmet to someone and unzipping her track suit. When she finally made it to Michiru, she pulled her into a standing position and tugged her roughly into a hug. Their lips smashed together and cheers and whistles from all the men around them echoed throughout the grassy valley. Michiru pulled back, blushing uncontrollably and tried to put into words that she would like to have some privacy. However, her stammering sentences were cut off by a light plopping noise. Haruka bent down to see what had fallen and when she stood back up straight, her face had lost all of its emotion. She simply looked at Michiru and then back at the leather bound address book in her hand.

Swallowing hard, the turquoise eyed woman whispered, "That's why I came here. I wanted to talk to you about … erm—"

"Invading my privacy?" she interrupted sternly.

"Haruka—"

"C'mon."

She grabbed Michiru's wrist and dragged her through the bleachers, up the steep, dewy hill and then into the cold castle. Michiru kept her eyes stuck on the stone ground as they quickly walked through the hallways and then made it to a large bedroom. She was pushed into the bedroom by her angered girlfriend and she hugged her arms, trying to take up as little space as possible; Haruka's steaming rage was taking up most of it already.

"So? Talk already!" she snapped.

Michiru winced at her tone and then began her explanation, "I was looking for my earrings one night and thought that maybe you had them so I looked through your nightstand and found _that_," she emphasized her words by pointing to the book. "My curiosity got the better of me and I looked through it … I shouldn't have."

"Is that it?"

"No."

"There's _more_?"

She nodded, "I went to meet with some of the people you wrote about."

"Who?"

"Um … well I met Ida. A-and—"

"And you met Mike."

"Y-yes. And I met with Zoë. She loved you so much…"

"She was a crazy, immature, coke snorting bat," Haruka snapped.

Michiru licked her lips and stepped toward her girlfriend with apprehension shaking through her body. She stopped right in front of her, cupped her face in her slender hands, and studied her features. How had she not seen it before? Her experience with Terrence had hardened her so much. The woman tore her head out of Michiru's grasp and snarled at her, "Don't try to read me!!"

"He hurt you so terribly."

Haruka chomped down loudly and narrowed her gaze at her partner, "Excuse me?"

"Terrence," she stated simply. "I saw him."

"You're joking."

"N-no. I'm not. I—"

"Get out."

"W-hat?"

"You heard me. Get out. _Now_."

Michiru didn't understand what was happening. She didn't even get to explain herself! She furrowed her brow and shook her head with confusion. Haruka was getting impatient and heated though; she couldn't handle being in the same room as her any longer. She violently grabbed onto her upper arm and at the same time took hold of her duffle bag. She chucked the luggage across the hall at someone's door and then shoved Michiru out of her grasp.

"Go home," she ordered.

"But—"

"I said get the fuck out of here!"

The door across the hallway opened up and William looked at the arguing couple. Well, it was more like a one sided argument really. Michiru stood there with tears streaming down her face as she stared, dumbfounded at the situation that was unfolding. Her breath started to become shallow and she leaned over to grip onto a wall; she was having a panic attack. William took a stride or two over to her and tried to make eye contact with her to see if she was alright. The whole time this alarming exchange was going on, Haruka gazed in the doorway of her room with angered drops rolling down from her eyes.

"You can't just kick her out of here," William said to Haruka as he gripped onto Michiru's shoulders and tried to get her to stand up straight and breathe easily. He took deep breaths and gestured for her to follow his lead. She shakily did her best to inhale and exhale like he instructed silently. While she did this, he looked back at Haruka and told her, "There are limited flights out of Dublin you know."

"I … I …. I got h-here on th-the l-last … one!" Michiru said with a quivering tone as she continued to try to get her breath on track.

"She can stay in a goddamn hotel! I don't care!" Haruka growled.

William shook his head in disbelief and looked back at Michiru, trying to catch her gaze again and make her pay attention to him, "You can stay here. You'll be my guest. Alright?"

"William!" Haruka screamed. "You can't do that!"

"Yes I can. She can stay with me for the night. Deal with it."

With that said, he picked up Michiru's bag and guided her into his room. They heard Haruka shout with rage and slam the door across the hallway. Michiru collapsed to the ground started to sob. William sat down on the ground with her and held onto her hands, trying to calm her down. He didn't feel like he knew her well enough to hug her, but she ended up falling into his arms anyways; she needed someone's shoulder to cry into. She should have expected this to happen, but for some reason she had thought of it turning out differently.

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**Please review! ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7: Reconciliation?

So after receiving some criticism from the last chapter and concerns about the way I've been portraying the characters, I'm trying to get Haruka and Michiru back to the way they are perceived. This chapter is kind of the glue to the next one which will start off a whole different set of adventures. I hope you enjoy! ^_^

**PS: I appreciate the critical reviews, they keep me on track! **

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

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**Chapter 7: Reconciliation?**

Michiru sniffed uncontrollably as she was handed a cup of tea from William. She sat on the edge of the bed that he had offered her and wiped her cheeks clean of sticky tears. She looked at the tall man who was willing to house her for the night and tried to force a smile on her face toward him.

"You don't have to do this for me," she murmured. "I can go and find a hotel nearby."

"No, no," he said curtly. "You are going to stay here. I won't have it any other way."

"I'll only cause drama if I stay," she replied, shaking her head. "Really, I should leave. Haruka and I can fix our problems privately back at home. It's the right thing to do."

"What did you do that pissed her off so much?"

"I betrayed her trust."

"Then gain it back."

"Easier said than done."

"Says you…"

He got up from his chair he was sitting at and grabbed her hand. William led her out of the room, down the hallway, and they were soon joined by other racers along the corridor. She didn't understand what was happening. When they clacked down to a huge dining room with a large buffet style dinner, she realized what he had done. She frowned at the food in front of her and sat down next to William. He started to serve her up a platter of salad, pasta, and garlic bread, shoving it in her spot. The room started to fill up a little bit with his fellow drivers and competitors. Haruka's voice could be heard bouncing off the walls in the back and a pair of footsteps that were echoing along with her voice stopped suddenly at the entrance.

"I can't do this," Michiru heard her lover say.

"Just eat!" one of the men prompted her.

"I won't eat with _her_."

"Shut up and sit down!"

The other guys laughed and sat down with her. She plopped herself across from Michiru, her eyes still piercing into her own turquoise orbs. After Haruka had made herself a large plate of food, she went ahead and plowed into her pasta and tore into the thick piece of garlic bread while she glared at Michiru. Her eyes never left her as they continued to eat throughout the night. The depressed non-racing woman did her best to keep her head down and didn't speak a word even though William was trying to direct her through one conversation after the next. The night was filled with a tilted tension; most of the men didn't seem to notice the anger that Haruka was expressing silently to her girlfriend … possible _ex_ if they didn't pick up the pieces of their torn relationship. As the men filed out and the plates were cleaned off, the fighting couple and mediator William were left behind.

Haruka tapped her fork against the empty dish as the British bloke spoke out, "You two are going through a rough patch. I'm going to leave you to hash it out, yeah? Yeah."

He got up and left the women to themselves. Once he was gone, Michiru was finally able to look up Haruka and she ran a shaky hand through her hair. This wasn't going to be easy to work out, but if she was going to do it, it was going to be with her eyes on the love of her life; it could have been the last time for all she knew.

"I'm sorry," she started off slowly. "I shouldn't have gone behind your back like that. I … I became really curious about your past. You've never told me anything … why? Why wasn't I allowed to see this side of you Haruka?"

With her leg shaking and biting her nail, she cocked her head to the side, "I haven't ever been with someone like you."

"Likewise."

"I have been scared."

"Of what?"

"Losing you."

"Why?"

She wouldn't answer.

"Ruka …?"

Michiru jumped to her feet, fed up with the limited answers she was receiving. She stormed up to her around the table and knelt down in front of her, "Please talk to me. Please."

"What did you find out?"

"Don't turn it around on me!"

She pushed Haruka's empty plate aside, pulled herself up onto the table and sat right in front of her so she could have a good look at her. Michiru lowered her head down in order to catch her gaze.

"Where would you like me to begin?" Haruka asked curtly.

She shrugged, "I don't know … I … I just feel like I know only half of you; your present, not your past."

The blonde got up and grabbed her hand, dragging her off of the table. Both hand in hand, the two strolled through the castle and out to the backyard where the racetrack was. The sun was dropping down behind the rolling green hills, tinting the sky in colors of pink, orange, and deep indigo. Haruka directed her through the bleachers, through another gate that let them out onto the smooth, dark pavement. In the center of the track was an oval patch of deep green grass that had been kissed by the evening dew. The two of them lay down on the grass and stared up at the sky that was slowly being pricked with stars. Haruka was twiddling her thumbs on her flat stomach as her eyes searched the darkening version of Mother Nature's rooftop.

"I don't know where to start," she whispered.

"First love?" Michiru suggested.

"First real love or first crazy love?"

"Both?"

"Both would be you."

"Come on be serious."

"First crazy love was Zoë."

"She said you guys got together after Terrence."

"Yup. Um … Terrence was my second real relationship," she explained.

"How did you allow him to rape you? I never would have imagined—"

"Errgh … it's so much more complicated than that!" she growled as she rubbed her face wither hands. "I met Terrence at some stupid gallery shindig that my agent made me go to when my racing career was just starting out. He was probably the only normal one there which wasn't saying much. He was arrogant, up his own ass, and he wouldn't quit pestering me. I had only ever been with Mike before. I mean, if I was to base all of my relationships on that one … ha! Oh lord. I mean, Mike and I were like two little kids! Bouncing off the walls, going to clubs, drinking too much, having really awkward sex…. It was fun, but not a real relationship. I thought what Terrence and I had was real … turned out I was right … it was real … real _intense_. He and I fought a lot. He had a lot more stamina than I did though … broke me down. The first time he did it … the first time he raped me … I almost thought it was a mistake or something. But it turned out to be repetitive. It was hard to tear myself away from, but I was able to do it."

As she took a deep breath, Michiru sat up, curled her knees to her chin and said to her, "You know I went and saw him."

"You knew him from before, didn't you?"

She nodded, "He was my mentor." Michiru licked her light pink lips before continuing, "I punched him."

"What?!" Haruka exclaimed as she sat up quickly.

A small bubble of laughter escaped from her lips as she nodded, "Yup. I just … I turned into someone else. I couldn't believe what he had done to you."

She looked at Michiru right in the eyes and couldn't help but smirk at the thought of this woman … this _tiny_, peaceful woman throwing punches down. It was amusing. Haruka fell back down to the damp ground and ran a hand through her thin, silky blond hair.

"I can't believe you did that," she scoffed. "I would say well done, but I don't want to encourage that kind of behavior."

"I don't think it will ever happen again, trust me," she replied as she lay back down on the grass next to Haruka.

The two of them stared at the night sky in silence. Michiru was contemplating whether or not she was allowed to hold onto Haruka's hand. Was it crossing a line? Was it too soon? She concluded silently that it was too soon. She kept her hands behind her head so she wasn't tempted to touch her.

"I don't know what we can do," Haruka mumbled. "I want to keep our relationship in tact."

"I do too."

"I think at this point, we need to start over…"

"S-start over?"

"I mean … I love you Michi … I can't … I won't … I …"

Michiru stopped Haruka from stumbling over her words by clutching onto her available hand. She laced her fingers through hers instinctively.

"I'm not done fighting for you," Michiru stated. "I admit that digging into your past like that without your permission was betrayal at its best—"

"I dunno if I would be that harsh."

"But I think we need to build ourselves back up some how."

Michiru removed her hand from Haruka's and sat back up. With her brow furrowed and her mind racking as to what she could do, she started to bite her lip with apprehension. Even if Haruka was able to cool off in the next few days and forgive her, she didn't think she could forgive herself. But she didn't want to be another scratched out name in the little pink book.

That's when it hit her.

Michiru jumped up to her feet and started to walk away from Haruka who was now staring off at her girlfriend with a confused expression, "Where the hell are you going?"

She spun around in mid step and walked backwards as she spluttered, "Um … I … I … well …. You'll see. You'll see! Just you wait!"

The turquoise haired woman started to jog off the field, through the bleachers, up the grassy hill and back into the castle. She had a great idea and it would use the people from the past she had met and their own present relationship. It would be a surprise for Haruka … and damn nice surprise indeed that would hopefully put them back together.

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**Please review! I know it was short. ^_^**


	8. Chapter 8: Ex 1 Part 2

Hope you all enjoy the new few chapters as much as I have been enjoying writing them. ^_^ I love the critique and reviews I've been getting. Again, it keeps me going and lets me know if I'm veering off a little!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

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**Chapter 8: Ex #1 Part 2**

Haruka pulled the joystick back and forth violently as the loud engine filled her ears. A voice from the inside of her helmet cut through the roaring noise on a built in headset, "Haruka! What the hell is wrong with you! You're not concentrating! Get into the pit! NOW!"

She gritted her teeth and swung her car into the spot where she usually got her tires replaced, a quick tune up here and there, and maybe a swift pep talk that resulted in a proverbial kick in the nuts … or in this case, _ovaries_. It seemed the latter was about to happen as she took her helmet off and got out of the car. She removed the soft lined mask that protected her face within the helmet in case of a crash or a fire. She rubbed her reddened cheeks and ran a hand through her hair as Miles came storming up to her.

"What the crap!" he exclaimed as he removed his headset and threw it down to the ground. "You're cutting more corners than a two dollar whore!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Sorry?! You're _sorry_?! You have your official test drive on the track in Barcelona in two days! If you don't do well there, you'll fuck up your chances at the real race!" he screamed.

"I'll be fine in Barcelona!" she snapped.

He wrapped an arm around her broad shoulders and led her back up to the castle, "What is going on in that head of yours?"

"None of your damn business."

"I know you and Michiru have been having problems—"

"Seriously Miles, _don't_…don't go there."

"I want to make sure my best racer isn't letting her personal problems get in the way of this dream."

"Is this your dream or mine?" she quipped as she removed his arm from her shoulders. She turned around and started to walk backwards away from him as she said, "Because as I recall, my dreams are way different and much more provocative than winning a race."

"Don't do this Haruka!" he shouted after her as she turned back to walk into the castle.

She strolled down the empty hallway and stopped at the door that was across her room. She hesitantly lifted her curled hand up to the door and wondered if it was too much to ask for a talk with Michiru. Their discussion the day before didn't do anything to fix their relationship. As of now the two were in limbo, swimming in a strange type of jello with pieces of their relationship floating around. She had to try and pull it back together. With Michiru running off the day before, it seemed as though she was two steps ahead of her.

She knocked on the door finally and was greeted by William, "Hi."

"Where's Michi?"

"Oh you didn't know?" he asked with a tilt of his head. "She left this morning. Headed back to the states."

"Great…"

"Did you two get things patched up?"

"Things aren't that easy to '_patch up_'," she said snidely.

She walked away and made it into her bedroom. She sat down on her bed, clutching onto a bedpost and wondering if maybe she should call her estranged girlfriend. Haruka grabbed her phone, tossed it in her palm a few times and then threw it across the bed. Even if she did call Michiru, she would probably get a voicemail. Most likely she was on an airplane or at an airport heading back to La-La-Land.

* * *

Michiru sat at the table in the low lit restaurant waiting for someone. She sipped her water, her patience wearing thin. She had made it back to California that day in the early evening and made a couple of phone calls. This was the first of many meetings she had set up for that week. She hoped it would work.

In walked the person she had been waiting for this whole time; Ida.

"What did you want?" she asked immediately as she sat down across from Michiru. But before she could answer, the blonde waved over a waitress and ordered a drink – a stiff one, "I would like a double lemon martini please with sugar on the rim." She looked back at her, "Okay, now what was it that you wanted?"

"I was wondering if you could give me more information on your relationship with Haruka."

"What do you want to know?"

"The whole thing," she replied, leaning back against her chair.

"Well, like I already told you, I met her at a club. We were in love. Very much in love."

"Your best date?"

"Champagne by the beach at sunset with fresh fruit and whipped cream," she smiled, the candlelight making her features seem less tan than usual.

"Did you guys ever split before the big one that came crashing down?"

"Yes. Once."

"And how did you recoup?"

"Excuse me?" she replied as she sipped the drink that had been delivered.

"How did you guys mend your relationship?" Michiru stated in simpler terms.

"I sent her some jewelry."

"You're kidding? That's what solved it?" she scoffed.

"What's so funny?" Ida responded, obviously offended by the laughter.

"I'm sorry, but Haruka isn't exactly the jewelry type. She wears a pair of earrings and a necklace _maybe_," she grinned.

"The stuff I gave her was top notch! It wasn't like I gave her pearls or anything!"

"What did they look like?"

"I gave her a leather cuff with diamond studs aligning it. I think I gave her ring that had looked like a leopard's mouth biting her finger with ruby eyes. Oh! And I gave her shark tooth necklace encrusted with tiny diamonds."

She nodded and took down some mental notes; Haruka liked jewelry just so long as it wasn't extremely feminine.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Nope. That's what got us back together. We were thick as thieves for a few more months and then we broke up again because of my 'flirtatious personality' as she put it," Ida answered with shrug.

"Do you miss her?"

She shook her head, "No. I've moved on. She was a nice little lesbian blip on my relationship radar, but nothing more at this point. It was interesting."

Michiru found it so strange that this woman could sum up a relationship in one word; interesting. That word described what a lecture was, what a movie seemed to be, and when you didn't want to tell your ex-lover what it was like being with someone new. Interesting was how you expressed a new taste in your mouth, was how you told a friend their painting looked when you couldn't tell them it was crap, and it was how you would sum up an awful trip to the coast to an old frenemy when in reality it sucked, but you couldn't possibly let them know that. Ida missed something from that relationship, but Michiru wasn't about to push her any further. They finished their drinks quickly, neither of them wanting to be I the presence of the other and parted ways. Before she was out of ear shot from the tanned beauty, Michiru heard her name called out. She turned around in the cooling night air and faced the model.

"Tell Haruka … tell her … that she's in my thoughts and I send my regards," Ida said with a quivering voice.

"Will do," Michiru replied before strutting off to her car.

* * *

Haruka was packing up her things for the plane ride to Barcelona that day when there was a knock at her door. She got up from her mess that had practically exploded from her drawers and answered the person who was knocking persistently. It was William with a package in his hand. His all-knowing grin and golden red locks falling in front of his piercing eyes were starting to annoy her. Pretty boys always deserved a good slap across the face.

"Here," he said, handing it to her.

"What is it?" she asked, looking down at the box.

"How am I supposed to know? I'm just a delivery boy," he smiled. He leaned in to look at her room and his eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Good lord woman! What happened in here?"

"A tornado hit it," she mumbled as she pushed him out and slammed the door shut in his face.

Haruka stared at the returning address; Michiru Kaioh. The girl had just left the day before yesterday … what could she have possibly wanted to send her? She ripped open the cardboard box and found a letter in that recognizable loopy hand writing resting on top of a pile of tissue paper.

_Ruka,_

_ I know that things are tense between us. But I'm willing to do anything and everything in my power to gain your trust back. So to start off with, I went back to Ida. She was the first past relationship of yours that I encountered. I asked her what she had done in order to mend things between you two when you briefly split. Here's my answer in the box. Enjoy!_

_Xoxo, Michi_

_PS: Ida sends her regards to you._

Her mind was reeling with scenarios of what Ida and Michiru could have possibly discussed together. A bubble of laughter escaped from her lips as she imagined her girlfriend's frustrated face at a dinner table. The violinist didn't do so well with airheads. Neither did Haruka mind you, which was why she wasn't with Ida anymore.

She placed the letter down beside her on the bed and started to rummage through the box. Inside were more mini turquoise colored boxes with white ribbons wrapped around them. Haruka rolled her eyes at the thought of jewelry. Didn't her girlfriend understand her well enough to know that she hated any and just about all forms of jewelry? It was all too gaudy and expressed nothing more but status.

Groaning, she opened up one of the boxes and was pleasantly surprised; it was a pair of dog tags with another note from Michiru inside.

_I find that when you're away at races, I feel like a woman who has just let their loved one go off to war. So, based on my own fears of you getting into a horrendous accident, I have gotten you specially made dog tags with all of your information, including your residency here in LA and the number of the car you race._

She put the necklace on and opened up another smaller box with great anticipation and arched an eyebrow at the sight of what was underneath the small card; a gold ring in the form of a ram with emerald eyes and tiny diamonds wrapped around its horns.

_You're just as stubborn as a ram. Sometimes your nose even flares like one when you get angry. Well now this ring can show off the horns that you don't have._

Haruka chuckled and slipped the ring onto her finger before tearing open one last box that was just as small as the last one. It was a set of earrings in the form of medium, pointing metal studs.

_Studs for the stud. Enough said._

After putting them in her ears, she reached for her phone off of the glossy wooden nightstand and pressed the speed dial button that went to Michiru's cell phone. The airy voice on the other line answered sweetly; she knew exactly why Haruka was calling.

"You think a bunch of jewelry from Tiffany's can get us back together?" she asked. "It didn't work for me and Ida, you know. Or did she fail to tell you that detail? The bleach is probably getting to her head."

"No, no," she answered, "she told me. I don't expect this to mend anything… _yet_. Consider this step number one."

"Step number one? I don't get it."

"You'll see soon enough."

"Michi—"

"Bye-bye."

She hung up before Haruka could even finish her name. She pursed her lips, placed the phone back down on the nightstand and then examined the dog tags. She wondered what else this tricky little vixen she had fallen for had up her sleeve…

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**Please review! ^_^**


	9. Chapter 9: Ex 2 Part 2

Here's the next installment! I hope you all enjoy! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

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**Chapter 9: Ex #2 Part 2**

Michiru grinned as she answered her phone again, "Hello?"

She sat down on the backyard swinging bench as the sunlight washed over the green shrubbery and glittering pool in front of her. Haruka was trying to talk on the other line, but it was cutting in and out with bad reception and hollers from the men around her. She never got a moment's rest with those thugs.

"I'm sorry, what was that Ruka?"

"I said did you really think all of this jewelry was necessary?!"

"I like to outdo my competition."

"Ida is hardly competition."

"Says you."

"What?!"

"Ruaka?"

"Mi- …. –can–… I– … this is …. Shit … hello?"

"Haruka? Haruka!" she shouted, but to no avail. The other line had gone dead.

She sighed and placed her phone to her other side as a pair of flip flops slapped their way out onto the patio. She was handed a plate full of tatter-tots, scrambled eggs, and sausage by none other than Mike himself.

"Eat up you fat pig!" he laughed. "Lord knows you could use to gain some weight here and there!"

* * *

All the way in Barcelona, Haruka was having a damned of a time trying to connect any phone calls whatsoever. She growled as she threw her cellular device across the room and clasped her hands over her face. She was stuck in a room with three other men. It was disgusting. They left their dirty socks everywhere, no one hung a towel to dry so there was a constant mildew smell, and one of them had even tried to bring over a prostitute for the night but the moment they saw Haruka in a silk and lace nightie, they booked it.

"Having a bit of girl trouble?" one of the Italian men asked.

"Its phone trouble, but you wouldn't know the difference, now would you Claudio?" she retorted.

One of the British racers was sitting at Haruka's vanity, looking at the gifts Michiru had sent her when he asked, "Where did you get such nice stuff?"

"My girlfriend. You should look into having one sometime."

"I have a wife."

"I said look into having a girlfriend, not a master."

Claudio broke out into a loud, obnoxious laughter, "This chick can hang! She has spice!"

Haruka rolled her eyes and jumped out of her bed, making the British man ask, "Oi, where you off to?"

"Some where you guys aren't."

* * *

Michiru grinned widely as she tore into a piece of sausage. She was happy that Mike was able to break away from reviewing photos and have breakfast with her. He said that he was glad to have a meal with someone who would eat it and actually keep it down.

"So what's with this cholesterol filled meeting?" he asked her.

"I was wondering about Haruka," she started.

"Oh?"

"We've been having a rough patch lately," she clarified.

"Like a bad rash? Just slap some ointment on it and move on!"

"It's not that simple. I betrayed her trust…"

"Ahh … yes, I've been there."

"With her?"

"More or less…"

"What happened?"

"Oh lordy, you are opening a big ol' can of worms," he mumbled as he shoved a bunch of scrambled eggs in his mouth. Mike chewed a little bit and then started to explain, "I wasn't supposed to send in certain pictures to a men's magazine based on her request. I went against what she asked and did it."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Oh that's nothing."

"Compared to what you've done?"

She nodded, "I went through her address book and found some of her exes … you included."

He gasped in fake surprise, "I'm nothing but a pawn in your investigation?! You bitch!"

She laughed, "I'm guilty! I am …. But seriously, she got really upset with me. I didn't expect her to do that. I expected a little spat and then she would get over it, but instead she threw me out of her room and told me to leave Dublin."

"You went over to Europe to see her? Yeesh … that's quite a statement."

"And just two days ago I sent her a package filled with jewelry."

"HA! No way!!"

"Yes, I did. I gave her some dog tags, a pair of earrings, a ring … it was all lovely," she grinned.

"So what do you need me for?" he asked.

"How did you gain her trust back?"

"Took more photos of her, but this time with what she specifically wanted."

"Hmmm…."

"You want those photos don't you?"

She giggled, loving that he knew what she was thinking without even having her say anything. The two finished their food together and then walked back inside her house. Mike had brought his computer with him and was able to quickly transfer the pictures onto Michiru's flash drive for her. She looked through the photos of Haruka on her own computer screen and was pleasantly surprised at what she saw; her driving in a car at night in lingerie, her walking down the track in a haute couture outfit while carrying her helmet, and her on the sidelines with other men in a long, sparkling gown with a headset on looking like she was shouting at a fellow racer through the microphone. Yep, this certainly was Haruka's way of showing off fashion. She felt a smile cutting across her face.

"These are beautiful," she murmured.

"Thanks."

She paused for a moment before looking up from the screen, "How long would it take for me to get a photo shoot spread in a magazine?"

"Quite a while."

"How long?" she persisted.

"Even if you got an appointment tomorrow, it wouldn't show for about three months … two at the fastest, but things are planned out way in advance," he replied.

"And sometimes there's a falling out?"

"Darlin, you are too much!"

"Come oooon!" she whined. "Can you pull any strings?"

He popped a tatter-tot into his mouth and tilted his head as he squinted his eyes off into the distance. He was contemplating which magazines would possibly be available to her. A smile curved his lips as he looked over at her, "How do you feel about Vogue?"

She smiled back.

* * *

Haruka got out of the shower, wiping the back of her neck with a white towel that had been draped around it. She was dressed in a silk blue and white robe and was taken aback by the hoots and hollers from the shared room. There was a hushed noise the moment she entered the room. She looked at the dog pile of men that had formed on the far right corner bed. A flapping magazine was thrown at her from the group of giggling guys as she approached them.

"What the…?"

She flipped open to the tabbed page and was shocked by what was there; Michiru in a black and white two page spread photo where only her eyes, hair, and the turquoise jewelry she was wearing were all in color. She was in a black leather jacket covering a lace and silk body suit. The title that was sprawled across the top in white block letters read "Racy Music". The next few sentences that was on the next page made the rather promiscuous photos all worth it, "My heart belongs to one woman. She's that short haired, frenzied blonde that everyone watches in the races. I figure people can see me in the lingerie, but only Haruka can see what's underneath."

Her eyes sparkled at the images as she heard one of the men exclaim, "Your girl is hot!"

"And she's all mine," she replied automatically before walking backwards to her nightstand. She picked up her phone and called Michiru with a grin permanently strewn over her features, "Hi baby."

"You saw it?" she asked immediately.

"Oh yes I did."

"Are you mad?"

"No, not at all. I love the spread. You told everyone you're mine, so no one else can touch you," she replied with a small chuckle.

"You know they let me keep the lingerie," she heard her purr.

"Really?"

"Yup. Guess you'll have quite the gift to unwrap when you come home."

"Michi—"

"That was part two for you," she interrupted. "I'm on a roll."

"Part two?"

"Yes."

"What's part three going to be?"

"You'll need to come back to states for that."

Haruka paused for a moment and thought about her schedule, "Well, we're done here in Barcelona next week. I have a five day break. I could come back then."

"Okay. I can get it prepared by then."

"Get _what_ prepared exactly?"

"Now it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it?" Before Haruka could pressure her into answering more questions, Michiru said, "Well I should get going if I only have a week and half for this. Love you baby!"

"Michi!"

Too late. She hung up. Haruka looked at the blank phone and screen in front of her and felt herself getting huffy at the sight of it. Her girlfriend's charm was too much for her to handle sometimes. Looking through the magazine spread, she felt even more overwhelmed by the photos. They were beautiful. She looked down at who the credited photographer was; Michael Anderson. Of course. She wondered what the next gift would entail. Would Zoë be involved? Haruka didn't know that she could look at the ex-fiancée, let alone mingle with her or have a gift that's anyway related to her. The pieces were fitting together a little bit, but it scared her to think about what the hell Terrence could possibly do for her.

* * *

**Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10: Ex 3 and 4 Part 2

Thank you all for reading and review! You have no idea how much appreciate all of the feedback! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

* * *

**Chapter 10: Ex #3 and #4 Part 2**

Michiru parked her car in front of the club with Setsuna in the passenger's seat next to her. She was coming along for an added eye, an extra opinion. The two climbed out of the convertible and strolled up to the warehouse that really looked like crap in the daylight. She knew that with the darkness, it would turn into a great, bouncing club much like the rest of Los Angeles. They entered the warehouse and found the place almost completely deserted. There was a bartender cleaning glasses behind the bar, someone sweeping the floor, and at an empty table was Zoë sitting by herself. She waved to the women who had just entered and gestured for them come sit with her. They did, with cautious smiles over their faces.

"I'm glad you could make it," Zoë said, tilting her fedora slightly to the left over her lavender blonde hair.

"Thank you for having us," Michiru replied.

"So what can I do for you?"

"Haruka gets back from Barcelona in nine days," she explained. "I want to have an amazing event set up for her here at this club."

"Very interesting. What kind of event?" she asked.

"Cocktail attire. Classy drinks. Appetizers. Music … actually I would like modern music up until the hour in question."

"The hour in question?" Setsuna repeated, her thin eyebrow arched up with curiosity.

The turquoise haired woman stood up to her feet, placing her grey leather bag down and waved to the others to follow her around the club. They strolled over to the glossy dance floor and she pointed to the stage.

"I want a giant screen with a projector and I want it up high enough so that when I play my violin, everyone can still see the images behind me," she said, trying to paint for them what it would look like in front of them.

"What are you planning on doing for her?" Zoë asked.

"You'll see. The steps will all come out over the next few days," she said mysteriously.

"Okay," she replied, not pressing the idea any further than she had to. "So do you want lights? Do you want a dance floor? Tables? A dj? I know a great one."

Michiru giggled when she saw Zoë wink at her, "Yes, if you could dj the event before and after I play music, that would be excellent. I would like to have the dance floor open, booths and tables lining all around the club. When it comes to lights, I need a spot light for when I perform, but otherwise, having strobe lights or whatever it is during the dancing."

"Alright. We can do this," Zoë nodded. "So a week from this Saturday, you want the whole event ready to go for that night?"

"Yes please."

"We'll be in touch then."

The women ended their consultation together on good terms with smiles on their faces. When Michiru and Setsuna made it into the car, her friend couldn't help but prod her a little bit more about the event.

"What exactly do you have up your sleeve?" the tan woman asked as she clipped her seatbelt in place.

"You'll see. I'm not taking any risks for this to get back to Haruka," she smirked as she started up the car.

"I wouldn't say a word."

"I don't care. I'm covering my tracks."

* * *

The next day, Michiru sat in Mike's office flipping through Haruka's thick binder filled with photographs from the past. Mike's desk was covered with framed photos that the violinist had brought in of her and her girlfriend together. A couple of interns would come in every now and then taking some of the pictures and replacing them with others they had already scanned into the photo database.

Tapping one of the pictures, she said, "I like this one."

Mike got up from his desk and walked around to look over her shoulder. It was a close up image of Haruka laying down on a white pillow with the sun glinting right above her neck, making her look like she was glowing.

"I see this every morning when she's home," Michiru murmured.

"It's a beautiful picture," Mike replied. "Any others you want?"

"I think I have enough now."

"What are going to do with these pics, Michi-boo?"

"You'll see."

* * *

The turquoise haired woman walked through the large music hall, her eyes flaring up at the man whose back was to her as he conducted the band in front of him. She was taking in deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves down as she clutched tightly onto her violin case. Terrence violently ended the music, his anger boiling up at his musicians. The group of young players were gazing at the famous violinist and cellist who was slowly creeping down the aisle silently. He turned around and narrowed his eyesight at her. He still had a black eye, a pink bruise on his cheek bone, and his nose was purple and blue with a bright white bandage over it.

"Come here to sock me in the face again?" he asked.

"Not today," she retorted. "I need you to listen to a piece I wrote."

"Why me? Why not someone else who didn't have a relationship with your girlfriend?"

"Because that's just it," she replied, "you know Haruka. You know her tendencies and I want someone else to hear this with a musical background to determine whether or not this piece defines her."

The conductor turned around to the band behind him and gestured for them to leave. Some of them paused as they collected their things and asked if they could stay. He merely glanced at Michiru over his shoulder who nodded to the eager students. It was a special event for them to hear the famous Michiru Kaioh play for them. She took to the stage once they had cleared the way and handed Terrence a copy of the music. She unloaded her violin like it was a gun and stood in front the music stand. After adjusting herself a little bit, she started to play the long, flowing notes. Her mind flooded with images of her loved one as she went on through bar after bar. A few minutes later, when she was done with the music, she exhaled, not realizing she had been holding her breath the whole time. Her eyes darted up to Terrence who, despite the whooping and clapping from the small audience below, was looking like he didn't appreciate the song.

"It's good," he said, much to her surprise. "It could use a little more edge."

"I was thinking of adding a heavy drum set and an electric guitar," she explained.

He nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes that would work beautifully." He turned to the students in the auditorium and gestured to them, "Eric is a wonderful drummer and Yolanda has the reincarnated fingers of Jimi Hendrix."

"Have them come to my house this weekend and I can listen to them myself," she replied.

While putting her things away, she was suddenly bombarded by the two students. Yolanda was a tall, lanky young girl with blonde hair and freckles. Her brown eyes flashed at her idol as she thanked her profusely. The boy standing next to her was calmly showing his gratitude as he flipped his long bangs out of his eyes. Michiru smiled at them and waved goodbye to everyone.

Before she could walk halfway up the aisle, she was joined by Terrence's overbearing personality, "You know, I'm not a horrible person."

"I don't want to hear it," Michiru breathed.

"Too bad."

"But _this_ is why you're seen as such a terrible man!" she argued as she glared at him. "You don't care about anyone _but_ yourself!"

"That's not true," he debated. "I cared so much for Haruka. She was a hard one to keep under control."

"That was your problem with her; she can't be controlled."

"Then how have you two stayed together so well?"

"Compromise, trust, love … oh! And I don't rape her," she said, whispering that last part.

He rolled his eyes at her, "So physical control isn't the best way to communicate—"

"Unwanted physical communication is probably the _worst_ way to connect with a person Terrence."

"I learned that," he quipped, gesturing to his nose. "You taught me that lesson."

"You deserved it," she said as they paused at the doors leading out to the sidewalk. "I apologize for taking such drastic measures, but Terrence you scarred my girlfriend."

"Right. Well, I'll be sending her a letter of apology," he announced. "After you came and beat me up … I thought about my actions … _deeply_. I need to learn how to make amends with her."

"Good luck," she scoffed.

"I'll need it, I know," he replied.

"Well I better get going," she said, clenching her fist tightly. "It took a lot for me to come out here."

"Financially?"

"Emotionally," she answered indignantly.

Shaking her head at him, Michiru exited the university with her purse thrown over her shoulder and her violin gripped tightly in hand. It was going to be a rather busy week for her in anticipation of Haruka's arrival. Everything had to go perfectly.

* * *

After she had heard the two students play, she invited them to stay for a little bit of lunch. They agreed to it, both ecstatic that she would have them over. The girl, Yolanda, was up and about looking at pictures of Michiru and Haruka while Eric was sitting on the couch looking over the Vogue issue that held the famous photo shoot.

"Your girlfriend is beautiful," Yolanda said.

"Thank you," Michiru blushed as she stirred the freshly made Alfredo sauce.

"How long have you two been together?" Eric asked.

"Two years."

"Wow."

"Yeah, that's the word to describe it alright."

"Who's this little girl with short black hair?" Yolanda asked.

"That's Hotaru. She's my best friend's adopted daughter. Haruka and I are like her aunts now. We take care of her whenever she's in town," she explained.

"What is Hotaru up to these days?"

"College mainly. She's studying to become a scientist just like her mom."

"Is she going to be at this bash?" Eric inquired, his eyes intrigued.

"Maybe. I still need to talk to Setsuna, her mother, about it. You know how difficult it is to get away from school."

The two students nodded in unison. Michiru served them up two platefuls of pasta and sat down on the opposite couch.

"Aren't you going to eat?" the girl asked as she chomped on some noodles.

"She's gotta keep her figure," Eric grinned as he pointed to the editorial spread that was laid out on the coffee table.

"I'm not that hungry," she said. "I think I ate too much of the past _while_ I was cooking it. I'll eat later."

As the adolescents ate loudly in front of her, she thought about how Haruka would react to the whole ordeal. This was going to be a big, lavish, event. She should probably warn her girlfriend of that small detail. She didn't want Haruka to be showing up to this shindig in a pair of jeans and a tank top. A small smile curled the edges of her lips. The two kids sitting across from her noticed and asked her why she was so happy. Michiru easily maneuvered her way into a story about one of her best concerts that she ever performed at and how it ended in her meeting the woman who would ultimately change her life forever.

* * *

**Up next: The party and Haruka's arrival! ^_^ Please review**


	11. Chapter 11: Fin

So it's the end of the tale. I've decided to finish here and wrap things up. I hope you all enjoyed this journey as much as I did. It was my pleasure to write this tale of Michiru and Haruka. I hope to write another one some day. We'll see. ^_^ Thanks so much for all of your support and reviews!! I appreciate it so much!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

* * *

**Chapter 11: Fin**

Michiru stood next to her bright red car, waiting for her girlfriend to exit the busy LAX. She was arriving that day from Barcelona and she couldn't be any happier or more nervous. Her foot tapped incessantly as more people who were not Haruka kept filing out. She looked down at her watch, wondering if maybe she got the wrong time, when she suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"MICHI!!"

She looked up and felt her heart stop for a moment. She held her breath and placed her sunglasses on top of her head before running up to her lover. She jumped into Haruka's arms and wrapped her legs around her waist.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Michiru cried out loud, her voice muffled by her face being shoved against her shoulder.

"I missed you too sweetheart!" she beamed.

Michiru was dropped down to her feet so that she could kiss her girlfriend multiple times all over her face. Haruka laugh and giggled out loud at the tickling pecks planted on her skin. Once the two were finished with their embrace, they packed up the car and drove away from the airport together. Haruka gripped onto her hand as they journeyed back home.

"I can't wait to see the last gift be unveiled," she sighed.

"Tonight," Michiru replied. "It'll be such great fun. You'll enjoy it."

"How many people are coming?"

"I've lost track."

"That's good!"

The two kept smiling all the way home. Michiru wanted to tell her partner in life and crime that it would be a whole day and night full of surprises, but instead she kept it to herself. When she parked in their driveway, she told Haruka to go on inside and crash on the bed. She went to the trunk, popped it open, and pulled out her luggage while listening closely for any exclamations. Shouts of joy soon came once the door was opened.

"What the hell?! Hotaru! It's so good to see you!" she heard her holler.

Michiru lugged in the large suitcase with a sly grin on her face when she found the slender, dark haired girl hugging her aunt. Haruka looked at the woman who just entered with a tear-stained face.

"How did you get her here?!" she asked.

"I just had to show my counselor a picture of you two and he gladly let me leave for a couple of days," Hotaru answered as she squeezed her tightly.

"I informed Setsuna that I wanted her here and she said she would do everything in her power to get her here from college," Michiru beamed. She looked down at her and said, "Why don't you get your Aunt Ruka something to eat? I'm sure she's famished."

She went into the master bedroom to put away some of Haruka's things while she was being tended to. She quietly put her clothes in the closet while listening to the conversation between Ruka and Hotaru about their lives. When she was getting halfway through the giant red suitcase, she suddenly gasped at what she found; a black velvet box. She bit her lip, looked around the room just in case Haruka was going to come back any time soon. She opened up the box gently, in hopes that maybe it was a pair of earrings, maybe it was an inside joke; after all she was looking for her lost earrings when this whole debacle started. Oh but how wrong she was; it was a diamond and aquamarine encrusted platinum banded ring. Her instinct was to cry, her body felt tense, and she could swear that a lump rising in her throat was going to make her stop breathing. She closed the box quickly and shoved it down further under the remaining clothes in the suitcase and tried to regain her composure. Michiru returned to the living room and sat down next to Haruka who was happily biting into a large sandwich.

"I tried putting away some of your things when it hit me that I'm not your slave," Michiru smiled.

The short haired blonde let a muffled laugh escape her food full mouth, "Yeah, you don't have to do that sweetie."

She sat there, staring off into space a little bit as she wondered if she was ready for the idea of marriage or the idea of being completely tied down to Haruka. She loved the woman, don't get her wrong, but she didn't feel that she had been forgiven enough for them to take it to that level. She didn't want her relationship to explode back in her face like it had for Zoë. Silently cursing herself for ever looking at that damn little pink book, she tried to jump back into the conversation at hand before anyone noticed that she had a lot on her mind.

* * *

The night fell upon them quickly and Michiru told her girlfriend that she had to leave early for the party. Setsuna would arrive at their house within the next few hours to get ready with her adopted daughter and Haruka and then she would drive them over to the undisclosed location.

When she made it to the warehouse, she entered the partially empty club to make sure that everything was going well. She met with the two students who were going to play with her that night, Yolanda and Eric. They were a bit nervous, as they should have been, but eager to make their idol proud. She met with some of the light technicians, the people who were helping put together the projection and even did a small run through while having a quick sound check. Once that was finished, she went to go change in the back room into a short silver sequined strapless dress that had a black lace neckline and sleeves. She was slipping into her black suede ankle boots right as Zoë entered the room.

"Nervous?" she asked, leaning against the adjacent wall.

"A little bit," Michiru answered.

"You'll do great."

"I'm not that nervous about this event, actually …"

"Oh?"

When she didn't answer right away, the lavender-blonde prodded a bit more, "What's going on?"

"I found a ring in her suitcase today."

"Oh dear."

Michiru nodded with her hands clenching and unclenching, "Yup. That was my reaction. I don't know what to do. I don't know that I'm ready for marriage. We've been together for two years, we're still not completely over our problems, and I don't feel like I've been forgiven completely. I'm not worthy of any ring she could possibly give to me."

"Maybe that's the problem," Zoë replied. "She could be forgiving you by giving you a ring."

"I don't know that I want to accept it … not yet."

"Well, dwelling on it isn't going to help your closely approaching performance."

"You're right."

"I'm going to let people inside. I can let you know when Haruka and your friends have arrived, if you'd like," she announced.

The sparkling woman nodded to her and let herself rest on the rather uncomfortable 1960s looking green couch she was sitting on. You could tell a person to not dwell on certain topics, but it only makes them think about it more in certain instances. This was one of those times for sure. Michiru sighed as she got up off the ugly cushion and went over the table in the room where her violin was sitting. She took it out of its case, cleaned it a little bit, then went through her scales like she usually did.

* * *

Haruka stood with the rest of her friends in the thumping club which included Serena, Mina, Rei, Ami, Lita, Setsuna, and Hotaru. They were all sipping on their drinks as they waited for Michiru to enter the stage. Two college students were already up there, preparing themselves for the performance at hand. Haruka's heartbeat was multiplying with each second that passed by. Before she could even think about ways to calm herself, the lights dimmed down, people started to clap and a spot light was placed on the glittering Michiru who was approaching the microphone with her violin and bow in hand. She watched as her girlfriend, pushed her hair behind her ear, blushed a little bit and then leaned into the microphone.

"Thank you," she smiled as people continued to clap a little bit. "Thank you. Thanks so much for coming out here. So as you all know, I'm completely head over heels in love with Haruka Tenoh. And if you didn't know … well, sorry to break your heart, but I'm spoken for." The crowd chuckled a bit. "So I've been a bad, bad girl. She knows it too. Don't worry this isn't some grand confession to her. I was looking for a pair of earrings one night and came upon her little black book … actually in this case it was pink. I know right? Haruka? Pink? No one could have guessed." The audience had a wave of soft laughter again. "Well in this thing, I found names with descriptions as well as numbers and addresses. I kind of stalked a few of them. I met Ida, who is here with us tonight. She's absolutely beautiful. I can see why Haruka dated her. She makes me feel like I need to go on a diet.

"Then I met with Mike Anderson. Gay doesn't _begin_ to describe him."

"Fuck ya!" he hollered from the back.

"See what I mean? He made me laugh, he took amazing photos of me, and if I ever do another spread in a high-fashion magazine, I will ask him to be my photographer.

"Zoë … Zoë, Zoë, Zoë. This girl broke my heart when she told me about the relationship between her and Haruka. I never knew my girlfriend had been engaged in the past and to learn about their particular connection was astonishing. The girl is so genuine, so honest…. I feel lucky to have met her.

"And last, but not least, I met with a man named Terrence. He was my mentor when I was a young violinist just making it out in the world. He helped me get these two students who are accompanying me and he was kind enough to listen to the song I wrote for my love tonight.

"In conclusion, I hope you all enjoy this slideshow and the music I have written to coincide it."

The people in the audience applauded loudly and waited for Michiru to sit herself down, plug in her violin to the amp, and then waited for the screen to light up. A title page came up with a quote, "A heart as hard as a diamond, steadfast never changing." Then Michiru started to play her music along with the hefty drums and electric guitar. Images of Haruka and Michiru slowly flashed upon the screen. There was one of the blonde trying to drag her girlfriend into the pool against her will, another where they had fallen asleep on the couch together with their arms wrapped around one another, and then there was a rather cute and embarrassing one of Michiru shoving a piece of cheesecake against Haruka's face. The rest of the photos were ones from the Vogue photo spread and outtakes from Michael's own private file that people hadn't seen before. The song went on for about another minute longer and then it ended with Michiru practically slicing the strings on her violin with an aggressive slash of her bow. The crowd went into a loud, festive uproar, clapping and cheering for her beautiful music. She bowed to them a few times, gestured to the young man and woman behind her to take a bow and then she exited the stage as briskly as she could.

She ran into the back room with Haruka shouting after her, but she didn't turn around. There was an overwhelming feeling of tears pressuring to fall down her face as she started to put her instrument away. Haruka ran up to the doorway of the room and cheered a little bit.

"Honey that was beautiful! Thank you so much for making that for me!" she exclaimed.

"Uh-huh. You're welcome. It's the least I could do," she replied with a quivering voice.

Haruka tilted her head in curiosity and shut the door behind herself as she asked, "Are you okay?"

"No!"

She was taken aback by the sudden outburst from the turquoise eyed woman in front of her. Thick droplets were dribbling down her cheeks as she leaned against the table. There was something clearly eating away at her girlfriend and she didn't know what it was…

"What's going on?"

"I … I found that ring in your suitcase."

Haruka knitted her brow, "The diamond one?"

"Yes. What other one was there?!" she snapped.

"Michi—"

"I'm not ready to get married! I'm not even ready for the idea of an engagement! I can't!" she interrupted. "We technically aren't allowed to get married in the state of California anyways so it would be useless at this point! How can you forgive me so easily? Have we really moved on past our trust issues so quickly? I don't understand…"

After pausing for a moment to let her cool off, Haruka asked, "Can I explain myself?" Her girlfriend nodded silently in response and she continued, "That ring wasn't for you. That was Zoë's old engagement ring from years ago. I wanted to return it to her. I heard she was having some money troubles … her mother is sick or something so I thought it would help her. I'm not ready to get engaged either Michiru. In fact, I'm really glad you didn't look any further into my suitcase because then you would have found your real gift."

She lifted her head up and stared at Haruka, "What real gift? I don't deserve any gifts."

"Let's say its something for the both of us … something I think we both need," she said as she pulled something out from her back pocket.

Michiru was handed a piece of folded up paper. She quickly unraveled it to find that it was a deed to a house on the east coast. There was a picture at the bottom of the white home with blue shutters, a rickety fence surrounding the lawn, and a soft, sandy beach trickling across the green grass of the front yard. Her eyes widened as she clasped a hand over her gaping mouth.

"You're kidding…. You got us the house?!" she shouted.

"Yes I did. After this race is all said and done, I want to sell the house here in LA and move out there where we can relax, I can tell you about my past and we can move on from this fiasco," she announced. "I haven't completely been able to trust you just yet nor am I willing to, but I think with this new home, a life long vacation, and … well maybe even a dog, we can get back to the way things were."

"No. Let's move on to a place that's much better than the past," Michiru responded.

Haruka smiled broadly and pulled Michiru into an embrace. The two kissed each other deeply, running their hands through the other one's hair as they squeezed tightly. It would be an amazing move for them both and finally Haruka could retire from the fast paced world of racing. When they walked out into the crowd, hand in hand, they were greeted with roars of clapping and merriment all around from their friends. Michiru leaned comfortably against her girlfriend; they were better together than they ever could be apart. That's what this whole journey had taught her.

* * *

"Where's Ferrari?" Michiru asked as she sorted through the mail.

"Probably upstairs," Haruka answered while sipping her coffee.

They were in their two bedroom home close to that sandy shore. It was an overcast day in the fall and threat of thunder and lightening loomed off along the coast. Haruka was sitting on their white couch that was adorned with seashell decorated pillows. A wooden coffee table with a glass top was right in front her and a matching couch was placed across. At the end of the living room was a brick fireplace with a large flat screen television above it. Although Haruka had finished with racing, she hadn't finished watching it and tuned into the special channels she had ordered from cable any time she could.

"Upstairs?!" shouted Michiru. "You know he's not allowed up there!!"

She threw down the mail on the coffee table and ran up the carpeted steps to the upstairs master bedroom. There she found their Golden Retriever puppy, Ferrari – named after Haruka's racing car. He was sitting on the bed amongst an array of torn up pillows and floating feathers. She growled under breath, making the young animal whimper while trying to hide under one of the tattered blue pillow cases. Haruka walked up behind her girlfriend and slid her arms around her waist.

"Calm down Michi. He'll learn."

"Off the bed!" she ordered.

The dog did move though so Haruka walked over to it, grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and then plopped it down on the ground. She patted his nose and told him, "No. Bad dog! Bad dog!"

"We'll have to send him to obedience school soon," Michiru sighed.

"Fine by me," the ex-racer replied as she lifted the puppy up into her arms.

The two of them had turned into this old married couple since moving out the east coast. They would fight, but it would be over petty little things. Hotaru would come and visit from school since she didn't live that far from there. Their friends used their beach house as an excuse to get away from the real world and even Michael came to take photos of them for a piece on the retired racer and her violinist vixen. They now had images of their new life and new puppy plastered all over the walls; Mike had taught Haruka how to use a proper camera and she was really into taking pictures constantly when not watching a race or two.

The couple had moved on from the chaos that had ensued them in LA. Maybe it was that town, maybe it was the smog, or maybe it was the fact that their new life didn't remind them of the negative, but the positive that came from everything. They were more open, more trustworthy and neither of them kept any secrets unless they were good secrets … like the fact that Michiru was going to make a chocolate bunt cake that night for dessert and pop the question to Haruka.

It was a new world for them built on learning. They couldn't ask for a better life.

* * *

**Final review please! ^_^**


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